RTD Will Patch the L Line on Welton So Five Points Can Redraw the Street

"Let's bridge to the future design without subjecting Five Points to unnecessary disruption and duplicative construction."

Norman Harris said that to the RTD Board of Directors on Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to the Denver Post. He is executive director of the Five Points Business Improvement District and a co-owner of Spangalang Brewery. That night RTD staff presented a plan to repair the L Line on Welton Street rather than tear it out and rebuild it. Earlier in the meeting, residents, business leaders and Denver officials had asked directors during public comment to support it.

The city formally requested the smaller plan, and the neighborhood showed up to back it. That tells you where Welton is headed. The track on the street now is being kept running as a bridge. The real decision is how Welton will be laid out after the patch, and none of the options on the table keep it as it is.

What RTD actually changed on Oct. 27

The Welton corridor is the last phase of RTD's Downtown Rail Reconstruction Project. Earlier plans called for a full-depth rebuild of the L Line's track. In its Oct. 28 announcement, RTD said Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, known as DOTI, asked for an "extension-of-life" approach so that no future option would be ruled out. Preconstruction is expected to start in 2027.

Here is what the repair still covers, according to the Denver Post's account of the board meeting:

• Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades and safety work at the light rail stations
• Removing and replacing sections of rail and pavement along the line
• Regular condition checks by RTD staff, so the line can run for another 15 years, per Director of Infrastructure Delivery Aprajit Desai

Next, RTD negotiates cost and schedule with contractors. Desai told the board that includes whether the work can be finished before the end of 2027, the Denver Post reported. General Manager and CEO Debra Johnson noted that the presentation was for discussion only, because the board had already approved the project's funding.

Not every director liked waiting. "I'm a little bit concerned we're waiting for the city to tell us what to do with our rail," Director JoyAnn Ruscha said, as reported by the Denver Post.

Why Five Points asked for less construction

The single track explains it. Per the Denver Post, Five Points community members have said the current setup leaves people on foot feeling squeezed against the train. It also means one track serves both directions, which causes service problems, and it limits room for sidewalk dining. A full-depth rebuild would have spent a long construction season locking that same layout in place.

Business owners on the street have been saying this for a while. Welton Street Cafe owner Fathima Dickerson described traffic speeds to Denverite this winter: "People are easily at 45 miles (per hour)." Risë Jones of TeaLee's Tea House and Bookstore told the Denver Post in February, "The bus may be more convenient than light rail."

The idea of redesigning the street is older than this study. Light rail first reached Five Points in 1994 as part of the D Line. RTD switched the stretch to single track in 2017 and launched the L Line to Five Points in 2018, the Denver Post reported. The Colorado Sun traced the planning history. In 2004, voters approved a FasTracks plan to connect Five Points to the A Line, and a 2014 RTD study called that extension "operationally infeasible." In 2011, the Northeast Downtown Neighborhoods Plan recommended a streetcar in place of light rail. In 2012, the Five Points BID asked for a streetcar and a two-way Welton. A BID white paper in 2024 asked for a formal corridor study. The same report said about 500 people answered the city's first survey in May. Many asked for shade, greenery, seating and safe sidewalks.

DOTI showed the RTD board several possible layouts in September. According to the Denver Post, none of the city's recommended options leave the corridor as it is. Harris said it plainly at the podium: "What has been established is that the desired future for Welton does not preserve the rail exactly where it is today."

The calendar the street is running on now

The repair holds things in place while the city decides on a design.

Kiernan Maletsky, RTD's director of long-range planning, told the board that once the city settles on its preferred option, RTD can move into how to fund and build it together with the city. Denver officials have said they expect that option by summer. In its September service plan, RTD says that when the L returns, the plan is to run it from 30th•Downing to at least I-25•Broadway. Going farther will depend on ridership, funding and operations.

The Welton Streetscape project runs alongside the transit study. It covers intersections from 24th to 30th Street and proposes permanent green infrastructure and public-space improvements. It still needs construction funding. The two efforts work on similar timelines. Neither is meant to keep Welton the way it is now.

Riding the 43 through the holidays

For the rest of the year, getting along the corridor means taking the bus. RTD named Route 43 as the L Line's stand-in when the suspension began and increased peak service to every 7.5 minutes. The current timetable runs from Sept. 27, 2026, through Jan. 2, 2027. The route goes between 11th–Larimer and Central Park Station and stops at 31st/Downing and MLK Blvd.

The eastbound timetable looks like this:

• Weekdays: First trip at 4:15 a.m., roughly every 30 minutes early on, about every 7 to 8 minutes at the morning peak, mostly every 15 minutes from late morning into early afternoon, tighter again in the afternoon, then about every 30 minutes in the evening. The last departure is 1:15 a.m.
• Saturdays: First trip at 4:16 a.m., about every 15 minutes for much of the day, with half-hourly trips early and late.
• Sundays and holidays: 4:14 a.m. to 1:13 a.m., mostly every 30 minutes, with a 15-minute stretch midday.

Thanksgiving and the December holidays fall under the Sunday/Holiday column. Check that column before planning a late trip home on a holiday.

What fills Welton while the plans are drawn

Even without the train, Welton has its regular nights. Five Points First Friday is this Friday, Nov. 6, starting at 5 p.m. The Five Points BID bills it as music, local businesses, art, food and drink at several spots along the corridor. The next one is Dec. 4, also at 5 p.m.

If you stay out after First Friday, Cervantes' has two shows that night. Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country plays the Masterpiece Ballroom with doors at 7 p.m. and the show at 8. Izzy Vadim plays Cervantes' Other Side with Hexx, Big Nut Chuck and Duality, with doors at 8:30 p.m. and the show at 9.

Padel Haus lists five indoor courts at 2501 Welton Street and takes bookings online. Indoor courts stay usable after the weather turns.

To follow the corridor decisions themselves, the BID's calendar lists board meetings on Nov. 11 and Dec. 9. DOTI's Welton Next Steps page is where the second alternatives screen will be posted this fall and winter. RTD's announcement describes the near-term work as a way to keep the line reliable while the community shapes the corridor's long-term vision for Welton and Downing streets. That vision includes a possible future FasTracks Central Rail Extension.

If you own a home within a few blocks of Welton, the corridor plan coming in 2027 is one of the bigger questions for your street, and I'm following each step of it. When you want to know how your home stands today, with the train still suspended and the Route 43 running, Joey Hoisescu and The Lighthouse Collective will give you a straight answer. Get a Free Home Valuation.