The Regional Transportation District has long said its G line would launch in the fall, but spokesperson Nate Currey said Wednesday that 2016 may end before the line starts running.
“We made a determination that we wanted to wait until all the issues on A and B are solved before we go through with G,” Currey said. “There's still a possibility the fall would happen, depending how quickly these last issues get resolved. There’s a chance that it’ll be push to next year as well."
The line, which will run from Union Station in Denver to Wheat Ridge and Arvada, never had an official start date. RTD has always called it a general “fall” start.
The delay is related to RTD’s A-line and B-line, which just received a 90-day pass to continue operating, despite crossing gates that open and close at random times. The A-line has operated under a temporary waiver from the Federal Railroad Association since it launched in April. That was scheduled to run out this coming weekend, but the new waiver allows both lines to continue operation.
RTD and Denver Transit Partners will tackle five points agreed on by the FRA, like fixing the crossing gate software issue. Currey expects the problems will be fixed by the end of the 90-day extension.
RTD has said before that the G-line’s birthday would be dependent on the other lines’ functionality, but this is the first we’ve heard of 2017 as a possibility.
“We’re not going to get hung up on dates anymore because it’s tripped us up, as far as expectations and pressure to give things open when we needed to hold off,” Currey said.
This was not the issue with the A-line, according to Currey, who added that dates – no matter the project – disappoint people if they aren’t hit.
“It’s more important to have a product that’s done well than to be stuck with a date just because we announced it,” he said.
Technically, the last full day of fall will be December 20.
