From airport expansions to highway improvements, every engineer knows that gaining public goodwill is vital to increasing the chances that a project will be successful. In Denver, convincing every voting segment, from liberal to conservative, to not only tolerate but desire a new light rail system represents a public relations triumph and some very meticulous planning.
As per ENRs lead news story for our Mothers Day issue, Denver is planning one of the biggest light rail projects in the country. Tom Clark, head of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, calls the $4.7 billion plan "our baby." Six rail lines and 12 years of construction will give every resident of the Denver metropolitan region proximity within 3 miles of a rail station. Funded by a 4/10-cent sales tax increase that voters approved in 2004, the project will built on old trolley lines or run adjacent to freight lines. Click here to view map