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Park Meadows hires firm to study RTD option
Park Meadows Town Center management recently hired a firm to study the impacts of light rail on area traffic, parking and customers.
By By: Kathleen D. Stinson
Park Meadows Town Center management recently hired a firm to study the impacts of light rail on area traffic, parking and customers.
Pam Schenck, Park Meadows manager, said she will not have a clear picture of the impacts of light rail without the study and is reluctant to leave the details to be worked out later.
Park Meadows management is in daily negotiations with the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Regional Transportation District about the possibility of the center joining RTD.
RTD plans to build a light-rail line adjacent to Park Meadows and would like the mall to join the district because the mall is perceived as benefiting from the line.
Skeptics of RTD say the transportation agency simply wants to tap into the lucrative mall's earnings.
Southeast corridor planners will submit the final request for proposal for work in the corridor at the end of October, said Amy Cook, spokesperson for the Southeast Corridor project.
Negotiations continue in the meantime.
"The short window of time complicates it, but there is a very positive spirit of negotiation," Schenck said.
Schenck said she hopes information from the study will ensure that the project goes forward with a minimum impact to customers.
"We are putting a great deal of time and money into the analysis," she said.
If Park Meadows involves itself in something that could negatively impact the area adjacent to the mall, Park Meadows eventually will be negatively impacted, Schenck said.
"All businesses have to protect each other," she said.
"We may well push back the [request for proposal] deadline," Cook said.
Previously, RTD officials had said that any changes to construction of the southeast corridor, subsequent to the final bid process, might have to be paid for by the mall.
"We want to cooperate with Park Meadows - the emphasis is on cooperation and moving ahead and looking for a positive solution," Cook said.
The study will provide factual information on how everything will operate - information Park Meadows then can take to adjacent property owners, Schenck said.
Schenck is concerned about traffic models that quickly become outdated.
"The area has already exceeded the 2011 traffic study," Schenck said. "We have to do a careful analysis."
Pam Schenck, Park Meadows manager, said she will not have a clear picture of the impacts of light rail without the study and is reluctant to leave the details to be worked out later.
Park Meadows management is in daily negotiations with the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Regional Transportation District about the possibility of the center joining RTD.
RTD plans to build a light-rail line adjacent to Park Meadows and would like the mall to join the district because the mall is perceived as benefiting from the line.
Skeptics of RTD say the transportation agency simply wants to tap into the lucrative mall's earnings.
Southeast corridor planners will submit the final request for proposal for work in the corridor at the end of October, said Amy Cook, spokesperson for the Southeast Corridor project.
Negotiations continue in the meantime.
"The short window of time complicates it, but there is a very positive spirit of negotiation," Schenck said.
Schenck said she hopes information from the study will ensure that the project goes forward with a minimum impact to customers.
"We are putting a great deal of time and money into the analysis," she said.
If Park Meadows involves itself in something that could negatively impact the area adjacent to the mall, Park Meadows eventually will be negatively impacted, Schenck said.
"All businesses have to protect each other," she said.
"We may well push back the [request for proposal] deadline," Cook said.
Previously, RTD officials had said that any changes to construction of the southeast corridor, subsequent to the final bid process, might have to be paid for by the mall.
"We want to cooperate with Park Meadows - the emphasis is on cooperation and moving ahead and looking for a positive solution," Cook said.
The study will provide factual information on how everything will operate - information Park Meadows then can take to adjacent property owners, Schenck said.
Schenck is concerned about traffic models that quickly become outdated.
"The area has already exceeded the 2011 traffic study," Schenck said. "We have to do a careful analysis."
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