For anyone that’s been out at the Denver International Airport, you’ve certainly noticed the construction directly south of the Jeppesen Terminal. In just three short years, this will be the site of the end of the East Rail Line with fixed-guideway rail service between DIA and downtown Denver!
You may not remember what the site looked like before – that’s because there was nothing there. The groundbreaking was held at the site, but three or four stories higher than where the construction is occurring now! DenverInfill covered the groundbreaking ceremony in August 2010 in this post.
Because the site is located at one of the busiest airports on the planet, it’s rather difficult to get good pictures. It’s even more difficult to get pictures from within the construction site. Thanks (again) to our friends at RTD, we have one of our first looks at the major construction project that is the South Terminal Redevelopment Project (STRP). Take a look at the slideshow.
Also, thanks to Brian Weihrauch at RTD, we have a few additional pics. The rebar and concrete is being constructed to serve as the brace for the massive canopy that will cover the train station.
This $500 million project will be anchored by a 500-room Westin Hotel and is scheduled to be complete in 2015!
Actually DIA has been losing altitude. By passenger traffic, in 2010 DIA was 10th busiest, but in 2012 DIA was 13th. Projections would suggest that it could drop 1 or 2 more slots in 2013 as both Thailand Suvarnabhumi Airport and Singapore Changi Airport are growing much faster. Domestically DIA remains solidly in 5th place.
It’s probably more accurate to say that other airports are gaining more altitude than Denver. Denver continues to increase its traffic counts. But, the reality is that as the parts of the globe that are vastly more populated than the US, continue to gain in wealth, their air traffic will continue to eclipse us. Perhaps, more direct international flights to Denver will contribute to some of that traffic coming our way though.
Right, Larry. United’s new Dreamliner non-stops connecting Denver and Tokyo last week are expected to double, triple Japanese visits to Colorado — presently 40,000 per year. Most of those visitors are headed for the ski slopes, but more and more will be business travelers to Denver, as well. The non-stop DIA-China potential is huge. That increases demand on the Downtown hotel/office markets to grow. And the DIA-DUS rail connection vastly enhances the Colorado’s business growth potential for all of Asia and Europe. DIA global non-stop connections will be a primary driver in future Denver growth. Stand back and look at the big map, and you see Denver as the air travel crossroads of North America. United and all the majors know it, and planners have been very wise to push through the East Line to the airport.
For an updated satellite view of DIA construction, check out this video from the Esri conference in San Diego this week.
http://video.esri.com/watch/2514/imagery-with-jack-dangermond-_and_-tony-mason