Sometimes in the world of transit planning we run into the problem of opposition from people who mistakenly believe that infrastructure has to be ugly. There is a misconception floating in some quarters that train service equates to massive concrete barriers running through the neighborhood.
It turns out nothing could be further from the truth. Light rail or bus rapid transit running ways don’t have to be ugly. They don’t even have to be paved. For example, there are many rail and bus lines around the world that run on grass-track transitways, including one great example right here in Colorado – the Fort Collins trolley. As RTD moves forward with FasTracks and localities begin to pursue their own plans for high quality transit, grass-track transitways may be something to consider.
Here are a few examples of grass transitways from around the world, starting with Fort Collins:
 Fort Collins, CO – By BeyondDC |  New Orleans, LA – By tinydr |
 Kenosha, WI – By kschmidt626 |  Concept for Purple Line – By State of Maryland |
 Porto, Portugal – By gradiate |  Paris, France – By collilnchurcher2003 |
 Strasbourg, France – By GEO.Hellas |  Barcelona, Spain – By Daniel Sparing |
Even BRT can be accommodated in a grass transitway, as Eugene, Oregon’s Emerald Express illustrates:
 Eugene, OR BRT – By City of Alexandria, VA |  Eugene, OR BRT – By rob_wrenn |
Grass would be awesome in the Lakewood Gulch LRT ROW.
Awesome pics; I think something like this or the ability to drive behind it in the same lane would be ideal along Speer Blvd. My fear is that once planted, grass would not get enough water in Denver or be maintained and become yet another eye sore and trash collector. I think dyed concrete such as red or yellow would even be an improvement to our boring concrete jungle along I-25 in the T-rex zone would have been ideal.
I know I could have just hit “like” but I like this idea so much that I had to make sure I was heard. Yes, we might be a bit dry for this, but it is such an improvement over more concrete that I’d love to see Denver give it a try.
in Colorado, grass would entail a considerable expense to install, maintain and run an irrigation system; the few highly xeric groundcover grasses either grow too tall (blue gramma) or work well only in full sun (buffalo grass); there are sparser alternatives to the carpet effect shown here that would probably be more appropriate
Prague also has some gorgeous landscaped tramways.
For a city like Denver that prides itself on its parks, and really hasn’t figured out how to do a good hardscape square/plaza, this just seems logical.
Steve Harley is right. Installing grass would cost much more to install and maintain. We do not need more grass in this city where water is at a premium and everyone needs to start thinking this way. However, there are alternative low growing ground covers that could create a more ‘green’ solution. Plants such as sedums, thyme, Antennaria, Delosperma and Eriogonum. Using a multi-species mix would not only be more interesting but would create much more diversity as well. We all need to start thinking this way in our own landscapes as well.
No thank you. There is absolutely no need for transit rights of way to be used as flower beds. In my opinion this is a classic example of urbanism being taken to the extreme. Transit rights of way should look like they mean business. I want concrete, ballast and tracks and lots of it!