Cheyenne narrows passenger-rail station sites to Reed Avenue and Old Happy Jack Road

City planners on May 30 presented two preferred locations for a proposed passenger rail station in Cheyenne — the Reed Avenue corridor and the Old Happy Jack Road site — and recommended the city continue studying both while applying for a Federal Railroad Administration corridor identification program that could unlock federal planning funds.

The recommendation matters because Colorado’s Front Range passenger-rail project aims to begin service between Denver and Fort Collins as early as 2029, and planners said Cheyenne could become a northern connection if the Front Range service or new Amtrak routes are realized. Randy Grauburger, senior rail consultant with Quandell Consultants, said federal planning and equipment lead times make near-term schedules ambitious but plausible if funding and interagency coordination proceed.

Grauburger and MPO senior planner Jennifer Corso walked the City Council through technical screening of six initial sites. Two emerged for further analysis: the Reed Avenue corridor (with two design options centered on rehabilitating or abutting the historic steam plant) and the Old Happy Jack Road site near Missile Drive and the Interstate. Grauburger said the study evaluated location requirements, site features and the operations of the two freight railroads that serve Cheyenne, BNSF and Union Pacific.

The Old Happy Jack Road concept would place platforms adjacent to the existing BNSF…