Transit Museum/Car House
The Future – The Capital Expansion Plan
Trolley Stops and the Neighborhoods
Vintage style covered trolley stops will be constructed at Confluence Park, Downtown Aquarium, Children's Museum, Invesco Field at Mile High, River Habitat, Denver Transit Museum and Decatur St. Descriptions of these stops are as follows:Confluence Park
A ticket kiosk and plaza at Confluence Park are proposed. A vintage Denver trolley car body display could be used for this purpose to provide indoor shelter in inclement weather and portray the service when no operating car is present.
The Platte Valley Trolley is a unique attraction for the many new and long time residents of the Highlands and Union Station neighborhoods and west Denver citizens. A one to three minute walk from here takes the visitor to a variety of retail establishments including the REI Flagship Store, My Brother's Bar and Paris on the Platte. Also nearby are Confluence Park, Fishback Landing Park and Centennial Park plus the Venice on the Creek Punt the Platte boat rides during the summer. This trolley stop is also a short walk to the new 16th Street pedestrian walkway between the Highlands neighborhood and LoDo, the river walk to downtown and RTD's bus routes 10, 28, 32 and 44 on 15th Street.
Downtown Aquarium
As with Children's Museum, the Downtown Aquarium, its restaurant and the trolley complement each other, providing visitors to both venues with an education in nature, fine dining, history and a ride along the river. With easy access from I-25 or the Highlands neighborhood, the Aquarium attracts about 450,000 visitors a year. The stop is also a one minute walk to El Señor Sol restaurant which is located in a historic building once part of the Zang Brewing Company's complex on Water Street.
Children's Museum
This is Denver's most unique and highly popular attraction for children. In addition to regular service to the museum, special museum events are also served by special trolley operations. Gates-Crescent Park is located adjacent to the trolley stop
Invesco Field at Mile High and Sports Hall of Fame
A five minute walk takes the trolley passenger to this little known but fascinating look as some of Denver's sports greats.
River Habitat
This would be a dedicated, short parking track adjacent to the planned river improvements in this area. It would accommodate special trolley runs for SPREE, the Greenway Foundation's river educational program for students from kindergarten through fifth grade. Other special trolley charters visiting the planned river habitat area including river raft trip departures could also benefit from this stop. The track would allow parking of the trolley to avoid conflict with regular service and would provide indoor shelter for patrons if the weather becomes inclement. River Habitat would be a flag stop on regular trips.
Denver Transit Museum & Car House - West Colfax Avenue
The museum would front on Old West Colfax on the site of the current parking lot for the city maintenance facility and the Canosa Ct. land. It is a one minute walk to Brooklyn's Bar & Restaurant and to the Mile High Events Center. The museum will complement Brooklyn's Restaurant and the Mile High Events Center architecturally. Patrons of the trolley and bus tours could experience dining in a fine restaurant during their visit to the museum. The West Colfax Site can be the cornerstone project to enhance the revitalization and future redevelopment of the neighborhood and would complement the new Decatur St./Federal Blvd. Light Rail station.
Decatur St.
This West Denver stop is a one minute walk to Rude Park.
Connection to the West Corridor Light Rail line at Decatur St.
A simple and convenient "across the street" platform connection with RTD's new West Corridor Light Rail station at Federal Blvd. could easily be made at Decatur Street. Rail transit riders from West Denver, Lakewood and beyond could make a seamless platform connection to visit the Greenway parks, the Sports Hall of Fame, Children's Museum, Downtown Aquarium, REI Flagship Store, local restaurants and the Confluence park area. This would be a multi-modal application at its finest.
Note: The extension of the trolley line by government agencies from Confluence Park to Union Station has been studied and is included on the DMAP, the Downtown Multimodal Access Plan created to plan for future transit access in the downtown area. Preservation and extension of the Platte Valley Trolley to Decatur in this proposal would guarantee the potential for future vintage trolley service from Lo Do to the Greenway attractions and connection with Light Rail at Federal Blvd.
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