Denver’s Transportation Hub

Transportation Hub is Part of Denver’s Master Plan

100 Real Estate and Relocation Tips in 100 Days (Day 26)

Somewhere back in the dark ages of my life, I bought my first automobile. I was 15 at the time, and
could not yet legally drive my new symbol of independence, but you can bet I hit the streets early in the morning of April 9, 1964. My friends called it the “Great White Whale”, which was a reasonable moniker for a pure white 1958 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. It was huge, large enough to carry an army of awkward high school kids from one hangout to another. Gasoline was 35 cents a gallon and we really did not care about MPG in those days. I recall selling condos in the early 1980’s, thinking my first love was seemingly larger than those tiny studios, and “the Whale” was a whole bunch more fun. I thought about my transition to “the Whale”, relegating my bicycle to the dust bin of history, as I listened to a presentation this morning at the monthly Downtown Denver Partnership breakfast. A company called B-Cycle plans to roll out multi-location bicycle sharing program in Denver in August of 2009.

But that is just part of the story. Plans for the redevelopment of Union Station call for what just 10 years ago would have been called “extraordinary” bicycle access to all 20 acres of the project. Coordination of bicycle movement, bike sharing, busses, Light and Heavy Rail, legs and feet, and yes, cars, are all integrated into a “human friendly” master plan that will allow upwards of 200,000 people to use the transportation system every day.

There’s more. Denver’s Strategic Transportation Plan outlines plans for bicycle corridors, shared bike-auto lanes, mass transit integration, walkable development, traffic signal timing, a veritable cornucopia of human movement ideas that integrate with Blueprint and Greenprint Denver to place Denver at the forefront of transportation initiatives.It is all<
very, well, future thinking.

We have come a long way since my beloved ’58 Olds, but the fact is, our methods of transportation have changed little.We certainly won’t give up the automobile any time soon, although the power system may change. The fact is, we have to much invested in concrete
and asphalt to abandon power wheeled vehicles. But it is nice to know that Colorado’s capitol city is actively doing things to offer alternatives to our faithful gasoline sucking steeds.