Light rail work to close Sheridan tonight

LAKEWOOD – Light rail construction will close all lands of Sheridan Avenue between West 10th and Colfax avenues from 9 p.m. tonight until 5:30 a.m. Thursday, according to a traffic alert issued by the Denver Transit Construction Group.

The closure will allow crews to set girders for a light rail bridge across Sheridan.

The suggested detours will re-route traffic onto Federal or Wadsworth boulevards.

When Sheridan reopens tomorrow, traffic will revert to the re-configured lanes changed earlier this year to accommodate West Corridor light rail construction: one lane in each direction between West 10th to West 14th avenues. Traffic will be shifted to easternmost lane pair during the initial phase of construction and then moved to the two lanes on the west side of Sheridan during the later phase. Pedestrian traffic also will be re-routed.

All scheduled closures are subject to change, depending on weather and other conditions.

The 12.1-mile West Corridor light rail line will be a 12.1-mile light rail transit corridor eventually will link the Jefferson County Government Center, Lakewood, the Federal Center and Golden with downtown Denver and connections to other FasTracks rail lines.

FasTracks is a 12-year program to expand rail and bus service throughout the RTD service area. The FasTracks program, scheduled for completion in 2017, is expected to provide six new rail corridors, extend three existing corridors, build 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, add 21,000 new parking spaces, redevelop Denver Union Station and expand bus service across the eight-county Regional Transportation District.

The transit program’s cost is estimated at $6.5 billion, but current revenue projections fall short of that mark by about $2.45 billion and the Regional Transportation District is wrestling with the possibility of asking voters to improve a tax increase to cover the difference.