Denver Union Station construction celebration

The Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA), RTD, and City and County of Denver hosted a Denver Union Station Construction Celebration on Tuesday, September 7 on the west side of the historic station on the site of the future commuter rail station.

State and local officials participated in the ceremony, including Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Denver City Councilwoman Judy Montero, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Executive Director Russ George and RTD Chairman Lee Kemp.

DUSPA Board Chair Elbra Wedgeworth told an audience of project stakeholders, elected officials and people watching via a live webcast that DUS is the latest in a long line of major accomplishments for the Front Range and the people of Colorado.

"We always think big in Colorado - DIA, the Summit of the Eight, FasTracks, the Democratic National Convention and, of course, Denver Union Station," Wedgeworth said. "We can all be very proud of what we are creating here together."

Mayor Hickenlooper called Denver Union Station the next transformational project in Denver. "Once a key portal of decades past, DUS will again be a vibrant hub for our City and serve as an emblem of 21st century redevelopment, innovation and regional collaboration," Hickenlooper said.

Denver Union Station is the centerpiece of the RTD's FasTracks transit expansion program and will serve as a multimodal hub for the region. The project will generate thousands of jobs and add more than $3 billion into our state's economy over the next decade, creating jobs and improving transportation mobility choices.

RTD General Manager Phil Washington said job creation is such a vital component of FasTracks that the agency is taking the lead to establish a regional workforce development program to train skilled workers as part of the DUS project. "As a region, we have kept our collective vision for this great building and development at the forefront" said Washington. "As a result, today we see visible signs of progress and how our regional partnership is putting people to work and boosting economic development."

RTD Chairman Lee Kemp noted that construction of Denver Union Station is critical to RTD's effort to complete the entire $6.7 billion FasTracks program. "DUS will serve as a multimodal hub for the region," Kemp said, "integrating RTD's light rail and commuter rail corridors, a new regional bus facility, the 16th Street Mall, Amtrak, bicyclists, pedestrians and six new public spaces."

The Denver Union Station Project Authority is responsible for the financing, acquiring, owning, designing, constructing, renovating, operating and maintaining the Denver Union Station redevelopment project. The Authority is a partnership of RTD, the City and County of Denver, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) and the Denver Union Station Metropolitan District.