Loveland rail service planned for 2029 even if ballot measure fails, staff says
The city’s station-area plan is grant-funded and independent of the district proposal. Funding for the route’s required infrastructure, including a platform, was set aside in the 2024 legislative session.
The Colorado Connector is planned to begin serving Loveland in 2029 even if the Front Range Passenger Rail District’s proposed ballot initiative fails, a city staff member told the Loveland Planning Commission.
The city’s station-area planning began before the ballot proposal and does not depend on it, staff said. A Colorado Department of Local Affairs grant funds the city-led project, which is not directed or funded by the rail district. Residents can give feedback through a questionnaire on the city’s Let’s Talk Loveland station-area page, community events and presentations to boards and commissions. A transportation open house was planned for Oct. 8 from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Devereaux Hatch Room at the Rialto Theater.
The planned starter service would make three daily round trips between Fort Collins and Denver, with service planned to grow to 10 daily round trips over the next 20 years. Loveland’s station is planned near downtown at 7th Street and the BNSF rail line, between Garfield Avenue and Railroad Avenue. The district would provide the platform, ticketing, lighting and access for people with disabilities; Loveland would guide access, connections and development around the station.
Funding for service and required infrastructure along the Fort Collins-to-Denver route, including the platform, was set aside in the 2024 legislative session, staff said. A planning commissioner questioned the lack of city funding: “Are capital expansion fees a possibility for something like this?” Loveland had no funding then for improvements beyond the required infrastructure, and whether to build a station hall remained a city planning question, staff said. The city could leave the site with only the required platform and amenities without preventing service from beginning, staff said.
Staff believed the last train under the proposed three-round-trip schedule would pass around 10 p.m. and said a proposed timetable was on the city’s Let’s Talk Loveland website. A planning commissioner raised the possible effect of that late train on nearby residents. “I have no idea how much of a disruption that is, but I thought it'd be worth bringing up,” the commissioner said.