Ruling next week might shed light on G-Line, flaggers

A ruling is expected next week that could be pivotal to the long-awaited launch of RTD’s G-Line commuter rail service to Denver’s western suburbs as well as to the dismissal of costly gate attendants along the ALine to the airport.

A spokesman for the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday said the agency’s three commissioners are scheduled to deliberate on the matter Wednesday before handing down a decision that same day.

An affirmative vote by state regulators would allow the Regional Transportation District to remove the human flaggers who have been working at the 11 crossings on the University of Colorado A-Line for nearly two years at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. It would also set the stage for passenger service to start on the G-Line connecting Wheat Ridge and Arvada to Denver Union Station.

The G-Line was originally to have opened in the autumn of 2016, and its delay has prompted officials in Arvada and Wheat Ridge to berate the PUC for taking so long to approve the line.

RTD spokesman Scott Reed said not to expect an immediate start of G-Line service following any “yes” vote from the PUC. RTD, 10,390. The Greeley area, in fact, ranked third in the country for percentage growth among metropolitan areas, with 3.5 percent.

While metro-Denver counties ranked high in terms of numerical growth, the fastest-growing counties in Colorado were in sparsely populated rural areas. They were led by Crowley County (10.6 percent), Custer County (5.9 percent) and Bent County (4.5 percent).

Crowley, east of Pueblo, had the second-fastest growth rate among counties nationally, but the growth spurt amounted a net gain of just 556 residents, for a total population of 5,810. Most of that growth was due to prisoners transferring to the Crowley correctional facility from the Kit Carson facility, according to the Colorado State Demography Office.

Kit Carson County, in turn, lost 6.2 percent of its population, the secondhighest percentage loss in the country. The Eastern Plains county’s net decrease of 470 residents led Colorado counties in lost population. Staff writer Kevin Hamm contributed to this story. he said, still has to conduct weeks’ worth of internal testing before commencing revenue service on the 11mile-long line.

The G-Line’s debut, Reed said, would have to wait “at least two months” after RTD receives a written order from the PUC, which may not be issued for a week or two following the March 28 meeting. Provided any PUC ruling had no other stipulations, the earliest service could start

Mwould be in June.

Nadia Garas, a spokeswoman for private sector partner Denver Transit Partners, said that if a favorable ruling comes down from the PUC, the flaggers “would be removed over a period of weeks in a controlled, phased manner.”

“We want to make sure we communicate the removal of flaggers to crossing-users (motorists, etc.),” she wrote in an email Thursday.

RTD has spent the last several months trying to convince state regulators that its gate crossing technology on the A-Line and the G-Line is safe. RTD’s efforts culminated with a hearing last month before an administrative law judge, during which several experts testified as to its safety.

That judge, Robert Garvey, has forwarded a report to the commissioners that will serve as a finding of fact in the proceedings.