Travel Poem

I love to travel anywhere

Feel the breezes through my hair

Destinations many such

Memories in mind so much.

Railway children travel far

Before we ever owned a car

On buses trains and boats were we

Intrepid little family.

Put our bikes on boats and planes

And of course our lovely trains

Met a lot of life out there

Because we could and did and dare

By Val from the BeWelcome forums (reprinted with permission).

Texas is looking for public comments on a rail study

Currently, TxDOT is seeking public comments on possible passenger rail connections between southeastern Texas and the Dallas/Fort Worth area and between Dallas/Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.  Of particular interest to me is a possible new rail line between San Antonio and McAllen. Other options use already existing rail, and in some cases involve improving the frequency and/or speed of existing passenger rail options.

TxDOT Public Comment Form Texas to Oklahoma Rail

If you are interested in passenger rail in either Texas or Oklahoma, please click on the above form before April 26, 1013.

You can also mail your comments to:

Mark Werner
TxDOT – RRD
125 E. 11^th St.
Austin, TX 78701

Westminster and Highlands Open Houses have been rescheduled

Each open house starts at 5:30 and ends at 7:30. Valente's catered the event in Arvada, but only light refreshments are promised

Wednesday, May 1
Westminster High School
6933 Raleigh Street
Westminster
Bus: 72 (Please note that the 72 has two paths through this area. The 72W will get you closest to the high school.)

Wednesday, May 8
Highlands Masonic Center
3550 Federal Boulevard
Denver
Bus: 31

This is a PR event that is oriented toward privileged white people. One of the presenters made fun of one of the other presenters name. The old white boys liked that. \

At the event in Arvada, even though the presentation was completely construction oriented, it was difficult to figure out where they are in the construction. It was not possible to evaluate how the construction is going from the people who were representing. They were all PR people without construction or business backgrounds.

Decisions are portrayed as final just as they were with the W line, although I found out later that many decisions were still up in the air. I assume that local citizens can influence some things, even though it is not easy to find out what those things are.

Si habla español, puede mandar servicios de traducion a Christina Zazueta, 303-576-3352, Christina.Zazueta@dtpjv.com.

Traffic and Revenue in the Mountains

Presentation on CDOT's study on traffic and revenue along the I-70 in the mountains
Thursday, March 21, 1:30 - 2:30 pm
425 C Corporate Circle, Trail Ridge Conference Room
Golden
Bus: This location is a five to ten minute walk from the 17. Walk south on Corporate Drive and then east (left) on Corporate Circle. CDOT's local offices are on the north side of the street.

CDOT wants to use all its money for roads, but it is legally obligated to look at rail and, to a lesser extent, bus service, so they are doing this study although they already have a proposal that might include rail for the mountains. Supposedly Parsons has come up with something that might work, but CDOT is doing another study instead of pursuing action.

What I would really like to know is what Parsons is proposing.

This meeting is for "stakeholders" which may mean that citizens are not welcome. I think that citizens should show up anyway. You may want to email Angie Drumm at angie.drumm at state.co.us if you are able to attend so she can know how many people to plan for.

Denver Union Station is Closing Soon

The Denver Union Station building will be closing to the public on December 1. The Park Service was the last government agency to approve the remodel, so the project is moving forward. Amtrak will return to the building in early 2014 with the rest of the building opening that summer. The model trains will be back that summer too. There more information on the DUSPA website, although none of it is particularly new.

This may be why the downtown Denver Grand Illumination is so early this year. Or is it always the day after Thanksgiving?

I am going to miss the model trains.