JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A proposal to bring public transit to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater is seeing new life.
Scripps News Denver has reported on several attempts to expand public transit to the Jefferson County foothills, most recently in April 2024. Now, the proposal is gaining momentum again.
“We really wanted to see, is there a way of connecting Red Rocks and some of the surrounding amenities in a way that people aren't bound by just personal cars to get up here?” Jefferson County Commissioner Andy Kerr told Denver7 on Wednesday.
Kerr and Denver City Councilman Darrell Watson are leading the charge. They plan to apply for a $1 million grant from RTD earmarked for municipalities looking to expand their transit options.
“This is the economic driver that Red Rocks is, and getting people to and from this whole area here efficiently and safely is… there's so many reasons to do it,” said Kerr.
Right now, RTD's W Line ends at the Jefferson County Government Center in Golden. Under the proposal, three to four shuttles would pick people up at the center and transport them to different spots, including Morrison, Apex Park and Red Rocks. The shuttles would run every 15 minutes.
Riders would be allowed to bring their dogs and mountain bikes on the shuttle.
Kerr said they are still figuring out the best place for a shuttle stop within Red Rocks Park.
“It could even be different on a nightly basis. We could move it around. It's not set in one place for eternity,” he said.
However, light rail service ends too early to serve concertgoers at the end of the night. Right now, many rely on rideshare services like Lyft or Uber to get home.
“If you do go for an Uber, you wait in line for, like, 20-30 minutes to get an Uber,” Denver resident Wyatt Terry told Scripps News Denver. “Typically, I'll just walk down to Morrison and order from there.”
Though a round-the-clock transit system isn’t on the table right now, Kerr told Scripps News Denver they’d like to consider it down the line.
“I want to come up here for one of the movie nights. I know they're doing 'Pirates of the Caribbean' at some point soon, and that's an all-time favorite of mine,” said Terry. “I'll be the first on [the shuttle].”
RTD told Scripps News Denver it will announce grant recipients on August 1. If the proposal is approved, Kerr and Watson plan to host a pilot weekend — or two — sometime in September.
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