Louisville Letter to RTD on 228 Route Changes

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,L Cityof ` Louisville COLORADO • SINCE 1878 Office of the City Manager Regional Transportation District Attn: RTD General Manager Dave Genova and RTD Board of Directors 1660 Blake Street Denver, CO 80202 October 16, 2018 Dear Mr. Genova and RTD Board: The City of Louisville is writing to express our support for the proposed extension of the RTD 228 Route. Increasing mobility options for people of all ages, abilities and income levels and providing local and regional transit options are all goals that have been identified in the City's Transportation Master Plan (currently underway). Recent public processes and surveys have identified increased transit connections to be the among the top -four transportation priorities for our community. The 228 Route is important on both the local and regional fronts. It provides critical connections within our community to and from our Recreation and Senior Center, the McCaslin retail and commercial area and a significant job center in Louisville, the McCaslin area Park-n-Ride connecting to the US 36 Flatiron Flyer BRT, the US 36 regional bikeway, and the AB Airport Routes directly to DIA. It then travels through Superior and on to the Flatiron Crossing Mall and Interlocken technology center, both regional job centers, and terminates at the US 36 Broomfield Station. The expansion of the 228 will provide connections to these areas for more Louisville residents living north of South Boulder Road, where transit connections currently don't exist. The proposed 228 Route extension will also travel through and stop in the Kestrel neighborhood, a 200-home affordable housing community housing 341 residents — all residents are low-income, 128 are seniors over the age of 55, 60 individuals have disabilities, and 86 are children and youth under the age of 18. Kestrel residents are all EcoPass holders, enabling them to ride RTD transit, and many of the residents are mobility challenged and transit dependent, and transit is not currently available to them. In addition, the extension will serve the Steel Ranch and Lanterns communities. The City of Louisville and RTD staff reviewed numerous route extensions that would address the needs in the area. Of all routes considered, this is the only route that meets the goals for expanded service and RTD's operational requirements. The proposed route travelling north on SH 42, west on Pascal Drive and south on Hecla Drive accomplishes the goals of providing RTD with a restroom facility at the route terminus to achieve compliance with new union rules, expanding the 228 Route service north to reach residents north of South Boulder Road and connect them with amenities within Louisville, reaching the transit -dependent population of 749 Main Street I Louisville CO 80027 303.335.4533 (phone) 1 303.335.455o (fax) I www.LouisvilleCO.gov