DENVER – The Department of Transportation approved a $151.6 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan and a $152.1 million loan application under the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program (RRIF) for Denver Union Station.
These loans, which constitute 64 percent of the nearly half billion dollar project cost, will help transform Denver Union Station into a true multi-modal transportation system, connecting light rail, commuter rail, buses, streets and public spaces.
“Denver Union Station will be a model of a seamless, interconnected system that joins transportation options at one location,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. “When completed, this regional multimodal hub will reinvigorate downtown Denver and serve as an example of what we are trying to accomplish across the country with our sustainability and livability goals.”
In addition to the TIFIA and RRIF loans, Denver Union Station has already received $28.4 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“Together, our multi-pronged federal investment in the Gold line, the East line, and Denver Union Station will mean huge mobility improvements for the people of Denver and its suburbs,” Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff said. “The loans are a great example of how critical federal funding can advance transportation projects and create thousands of jobs that will have a big impact in Colorado’s recovery.”
The Denver Union Station project is a 50-acre public-private development venture in lower downtown Denver. The intermodal transit development project will serve as a regional multimodal hub that will improve transportation and reduce congestion in the downtown area. Transportation elements include an underground bus terminal with 22 bays, a light rail station for current and future light rail routes, a commuter rail station that will serve Amtrak and possibly a ski train, and public plazas to integrate transit service. Construction is estimated to take four-years to complete.
