City, RTD negotiate $2.6 million in station “betterments”

Light rail construction crews raise the light rail bridge at Wadsworth . (Photo by Kevin Flynn)

(Editor’s note: As the approach of FasTracks light rail alters the landscape of the city, Kevin Flynn’s Inside Lane and the Lakewood Edge will partner to provide Lakewood residents the latest and most complete transportation news.)

LAKEWOOD – The fate of the city’s plans to make a signature statement with upgraded urban design features at the West Corridor light rail project’s Wadsworth Station rests in the hands of cost estimators who will soon put a price tag on the translucent canopy, enhanced lighting and other things the city wants.

Lakewood has a $2.6 million budget for what City Hall calls “betterments” at the Wadsworth light rail station, which will be atop the bridge at 13th Avenue, in an effort to take RTD’s bare bones utilitarian station design and make the structure an iconic city gateway.

 The plan at the Oak Street Station, though much less ambitious, is budgeted at $200,000.

Lakewood would pay the Regional Transportation District to add the things the city wants; RTD would then incorporate them via a change order to its contract with Denver Transit Construction Group, the general contractor for the 12.1-mile light rail line now under construction.

But to do that, DTCG first must price the city’s proposal, and let RTD and Lakewood negotiate the final product.

Light rail will cross Wadsworth via a bridge, and the station stop itself will be on the bridge above the street. RTD is building the stairs, elevators and the station platform, along with basic shelters, benches and other items. But because RTD’s budget is pushed to the max to build the project’s essentials, the design of the Wadsworth bridge and station is basic meat and potatoes.

The city’s alternative design, drawn up by Klipp PC architecture, includes a 330-foot translucent canopy, meant to invoke the cloud formations that often line the Rocky Mountain backdrop to the west. It would be lighted from below to make it visible at night.

RTD’s FasTracks program has been plagued by budget gaps since it was formulated in 2004, mostly through an unprecedented spike worldwide in construction materials and costs that hit in the first several years. Lakewood’s plans, however, were developed after the bulk of those cost increases already occurred – in fact, some construction commodities have fallen in price since the high levels hit in 2006 and 2007.

Becky Clark, director of Lakewood’s Reinvestment Authority, said she would like to have an agreement in place with RTD by the end of next month. The LRA intends to pay for the additions through bonds payable through tax-increment financing – using the new tax revenue generated by development surrounding the station area.

If costs have increased to an extent that the contractor cannot build everything Lakewood wants within budget, Clark said, the city will negotiate how much can be built.

Clark said the mission is to brand the bridge with a unique identity, similar to how the Belmar area – which some call the city’s “downtown” – has branded itself.

“We want to enhance the quality of the place-making features at Wadsworth so it doesn’t just look like every other station on the line,” Clark said.

Six of the West Corridor’s 12 stations are in Lakewood and a seventh, at Sheridan, is effectively shared with Denver. But Wadsworth is the first major station in Lakewood when headed west from Denver. There is a planned walk-up station without parking at 13th Avenue and Lamar Street, but at Wadsworth there will be a 1,000-vehicle parking garage.

It is important for the city and RTD to reach agreement soon because Wadsworth bridge construction is well underway. DTCG has hired Edward Kraemer & Sons, whose Colorado regional office is in Castle Rock, to build the structure.

The abutment and pier assembly on the east side of Wadsworth already are out of the ground, and excavation and footings are underway on the west side of the street along 13th Avenue for the bridge supports there. As a result, 13th Avenue is closed to traffic in the blocks in both directions directly off Wadsworth.

Construction is expected to take a year, with girders being set across Wadsworth early in 2010. Because of the 25-foot height of the bridge and the topography of the approaches on Wadsworth – traffic from the south is headed slightly uphill toward the bridge from crossing Dry Gulch near 10th Avenue – the large structure will dominate the scene.

The bridge will be 400 feet long from end to end, using three spans including a 160-foot center span that will clear Wadsworth without any center supports in the street. Two side spans over the sidewalks will each be 120 feet long.

The prominence of the bridge and station is one of the reasons Lakewood wants to dress it up to create a “unique identity” for the city.

Planning for this began more than four years ago.

“RTD presented Lakewood city staff with conceptual drawings of the planned station designs along the West Corridor in 2005,” notes a Lakewood staff report from 2008. “After reviewing the drawings, city staff believed that the stations were not up to the design potential that is prescribed for those areas. RTD’s budget is limited and only allows it to construct very basic light rail stations which do not reflect the uniqueness of Lakewood.

“RTD is willing to include enhancements, termed ‘betterments’ by RTD, in the design of its light rail stations if the City is willing to bear the cost of the betterments.”

In addition to the 330-foot canopy over the pedestrian area of the station – made up of 38 panels covering 3,600 square feet, there would be glass elevators at either end of the bridge, both also lighted for an open and transparent look.

Windscreens, railings, guardrails and enhanced lighting also are elements of the city’s design.