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Maybe accident will force town to rethink priorities
To the editor:
If there is anything positive that can come from the train/car accident that put a 16-year-old cheerleader in a coma and likely scarred her boyfriend's psyche for life, it could be that Castle Rock's transportation issues will finally become a top priority with town officials.
Indeed, the town's traffic woes have become legion for those residents and visitors who dare to venture through the morass that has become Castle Rock's byways.
Streets are clogged with cars at various times during the day and pedestrians take their lives in their hands when they try to cross certain intersections.
The blame game regarding the train accident Nov. 12 could go on forever - Missy Martin shouldn't have been on the tracks; the train shouldn't have been moving at 40-plus mph; Vinny Veruchi, Missy's boyfriend, shouldn't have pushed her car into the train's path - but none of that is really the issue here, and it isn't going to do anyone any good except allow town leaders and railroad officials to cover their katooshes.
According to Keith Dameron, state coordinator for Colorado Operation Lifesaver, 50 percent of all rail-grade accidents happen at crossings protected with lights and/or gates.
Missy's accident was tragic, but inevitable. That alone should convince officials to figure out a way to move the railroad tracks out of town. City officials tabled the idea a year ago.
But it's now time to revisit the issue of either moving the tracks or, at the very least, putting them below grade to eliminate car/train interaction.
Simply put: Castle Rock has outgrown a train running through the middle of it. There are 23,000 people living here now.
It's estimated that more than 70,000 will reside here by 2020. There is nothing quaint about train tracks cutting the town in half.
Granted, those tracks initially put Castle Rock on the map. The railroads were critical to the town's viability. But that time has come and gone. The trains don't stop here and haven't for almost a half century. They don't carry passengers. They don't contribute any commerce.
They barrel through town carrying industrial materials. Denver was once a mining town but you don't see smelters or mines scattered throughout the city, do you?
Castle Rock leaders are asking us to be patient while they put the final touches on a master transportation plan, which should debut by year's end. I have seen the proposal submitted by Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, the consultants hired to examine our traffic issues. I am not impressed.
Indeed, it leaves me fairly outraged, to tell you the truth. Some highlights:
q A flyover from Front Street to Perry Street. It's expected to cost about $7 million and reduce traffic on Fifth Street at the railroad tracks by only about 11 percent. The Fifth Street intersection with the tracks would remain untouched.
q Widen Fifth Street (also known as Colorado 86) between Founders Parkway and Wilcox Street. This is likely to increase traffic on the street but might make it quicker to traverse from one side of town to the other. This project is slated to cost about $2 million.
q Make Perry Street a one-way street headed north and either Jerry Street or Wilcox Street a one-way street headed south. Of course this proposal will make getting to any business, restaurant or retailer in this quadrant difficult.
This isn't going to cost anything up front, but it will likely result in some lost sales tax revenue as businesses along that route go out of business or move.
q Depress the railroad tracks below grade. This is estimated to cost about $13 million. This solution keeps the tracks running through town, but eliminates the above-grade rail crossings that now exist.
q Closing Third Street on each side of the railroad tracks. This will garner the town about $1.5 million from the railroad, which wants to eliminate as many above-grade crossings as possible to lower its own liability insurance. This would, of course, fatten the town's coffers but also make traffic on Fifth Street that much more congested by eliminating one of only three crossings in the downtown area.
q The consultants also studied the possibility of extending Front Street to Plum Creek Parkway, but did not put a price tag on the project.
The copy of the report I have seen concludes the extension would provide a good north/south connection in town, but would also be expensive citing the need to build a bridge and acquire land to complete the project.
Much of this transportation plan centers around the railroad tracks and will cost more than $20 million if all the projects (at least all that have price tags attached to them) are implemented. But the bulk of the proposals (absent the idea of putting the tracks below grade) don't really solve the problem of the train clogging traffic, perpetuating dangerous intersections, and creating a public safety hazard.
When the train is running through Castle Rock, police and firefighters must travel south more than a mile to Plum Creek Parkway or north more than two miles to Founders Parkway to get from the west side of town to the east side of town.
Castle Rock is a wonderful place to live and do business. The people who live here are the best on the Front Range.
The town has the potential to be a significant draw for both residents and visitors wanting a taste of small-town friendliness coupled with good restaurants, interesting stores and unique galleries.
That may not sound important, but let's face it, more than 80 percent of Castle Rock's financial budget is funded by sales tax.
Commerce is what makes this town tick. Yet Castle Rock is at a crossroads (no pun intended).
The town and its residents can either embrace the future while holding on to the things that make it unique and wonderful. Or it can be allowed to grow fallow through poor planning and short-sightedness.
K.C. Neel
Castle Rock
If there is anything positive that can come from the train/car accident that put a 16-year-old cheerleader in a coma and likely scarred her boyfriend's psyche for life, it could be that Castle Rock's transportation issues will finally become a top priority with town officials.
Indeed, the town's traffic woes have become legion for those residents and visitors who dare to venture through the morass that has become Castle Rock's byways.
Streets are clogged with cars at various times during the day and pedestrians take their lives in their hands when they try to cross certain intersections.
The blame game regarding the train accident Nov. 12 could go on forever - Missy Martin shouldn't have been on the tracks; the train shouldn't have been moving at 40-plus mph; Vinny Veruchi, Missy's boyfriend, shouldn't have pushed her car into the train's path - but none of that is really the issue here, and it isn't going to do anyone any good except allow town leaders and railroad officials to cover their katooshes.
According to Keith Dameron, state coordinator for Colorado Operation Lifesaver, 50 percent of all rail-grade accidents happen at crossings protected with lights and/or gates.
Missy's accident was tragic, but inevitable. That alone should convince officials to figure out a way to move the railroad tracks out of town. City officials tabled the idea a year ago.
But it's now time to revisit the issue of either moving the tracks or, at the very least, putting them below grade to eliminate car/train interaction.
Simply put: Castle Rock has outgrown a train running through the middle of it. There are 23,000 people living here now.
It's estimated that more than 70,000 will reside here by 2020. There is nothing quaint about train tracks cutting the town in half.
Granted, those tracks initially put Castle Rock on the map. The railroads were critical to the town's viability. But that time has come and gone. The trains don't stop here and haven't for almost a half century. They don't carry passengers. They don't contribute any commerce.
They barrel through town carrying industrial materials. Denver was once a mining town but you don't see smelters or mines scattered throughout the city, do you?
Castle Rock leaders are asking us to be patient while they put the final touches on a master transportation plan, which should debut by year's end. I have seen the proposal submitted by Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, the consultants hired to examine our traffic issues. I am not impressed.
Indeed, it leaves me fairly outraged, to tell you the truth. Some highlights:
q A flyover from Front Street to Perry Street. It's expected to cost about $7 million and reduce traffic on Fifth Street at the railroad tracks by only about 11 percent. The Fifth Street intersection with the tracks would remain untouched.
q Widen Fifth Street (also known as Colorado 86) between Founders Parkway and Wilcox Street. This is likely to increase traffic on the street but might make it quicker to traverse from one side of town to the other. This project is slated to cost about $2 million.
q Make Perry Street a one-way street headed north and either Jerry Street or Wilcox Street a one-way street headed south. Of course this proposal will make getting to any business, restaurant or retailer in this quadrant difficult.
This isn't going to cost anything up front, but it will likely result in some lost sales tax revenue as businesses along that route go out of business or move.
q Depress the railroad tracks below grade. This is estimated to cost about $13 million. This solution keeps the tracks running through town, but eliminates the above-grade rail crossings that now exist.
q Closing Third Street on each side of the railroad tracks. This will garner the town about $1.5 million from the railroad, which wants to eliminate as many above-grade crossings as possible to lower its own liability insurance. This would, of course, fatten the town's coffers but also make traffic on Fifth Street that much more congested by eliminating one of only three crossings in the downtown area.
q The consultants also studied the possibility of extending Front Street to Plum Creek Parkway, but did not put a price tag on the project.
The copy of the report I have seen concludes the extension would provide a good north/south connection in town, but would also be expensive citing the need to build a bridge and acquire land to complete the project.
Much of this transportation plan centers around the railroad tracks and will cost more than $20 million if all the projects (at least all that have price tags attached to them) are implemented. But the bulk of the proposals (absent the idea of putting the tracks below grade) don't really solve the problem of the train clogging traffic, perpetuating dangerous intersections, and creating a public safety hazard.
When the train is running through Castle Rock, police and firefighters must travel south more than a mile to Plum Creek Parkway or north more than two miles to Founders Parkway to get from the west side of town to the east side of town.
Castle Rock is a wonderful place to live and do business. The people who live here are the best on the Front Range.
The town has the potential to be a significant draw for both residents and visitors wanting a taste of small-town friendliness coupled with good restaurants, interesting stores and unique galleries.
That may not sound important, but let's face it, more than 80 percent of Castle Rock's financial budget is funded by sales tax.
Commerce is what makes this town tick. Yet Castle Rock is at a crossroads (no pun intended).
The town and its residents can either embrace the future while holding on to the things that make it unique and wonderful. Or it can be allowed to grow fallow through poor planning and short-sightedness.
K.C. Neel
Castle Rock
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