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 single track where the line crosses over Missile Drive. Grauburger said the concept anticipates a two-story station building with an elevator connecting street level to rail level, surface parking, and a siding so passenger trains will not block the main freight line. The Happy Jack option was estimated at about $31,000,000 in 2023 dollars; planners said that figure does not include escalation to future construction years.

Reed Avenue alternatives focused on siting a ground-level station near the historic steam plant. One option would build a second track through the steam plant footprint and a station north of it; the other would keep trains on the existing line and use a stub track to clear the mainline after passengers board or disembark. Grauburger said the Reid Avenue options were estimated roughly $26 million to $28 million, with a lower-cost variant in the low-to-mid $20 millions when a new second track is not required; those estimates exclude any steam-plant renovation costs.

Grauburger said both sites drew strong stakeholder support during public outreach and two open houses. He noted operational differences: the BNSF mainline through town carries roughly 8–10 unscheduled freight trains per day, while the Reed Avenue corridor currently carries about two to three trains per week, primarily ballast trains. The study team found environmental issues at both sites but described them as mitigable and documented in technical memos posted to the MPO website; Grauburger said two separate technical memos cover environmental analysis and economic development effects.

Planners identified several practical differences between sites: the city already owns the Happy Jack parcel, reducing right-of-way acquisition risk; Reed Avenue alternatives would require acquisition of an estimated three to seven parcels depending on the option. Grauburger recommended studies tied to each site — a master plan for the Happy Jack area and a steam-plant restoration concept for Reid Avenue — and urged the city to remain engaged with the Front Range Passenger Rail entities, Amtrak, the FRA and the two freight railroads.

On funding and federal steps, Grauburger described the FRA corridor identification program as a pathway to a service development plan: FRA provides about $500,000 for step 1 (scope/schedule/budget), step 2 may be funded at 90% federal match and could cost under $2 million to study a Fort Collins–Cheyenne link, and step 3 covers final design and environmental approvals. Grauburger said step timelines can be lengthy: his team recently completed a step 1 in about eight months and estimated step 2 could take two to three years, with final design and approvals adding additional time.

Council members asked about freight conflicts, environmental remediation and whether railroads would agree to shift freight to free corridor capacity. Grauburger recounted earlier Colorado discussions about moving some freight from BNSF to UP that were tabled after Union Pacific requested railroad-only legal review; he said BNSF had been supportive of conversations but UP declined to continue without a formal request from state authorities. On Brownfields and cleanup funding, staff said they would follow up with a precise answer.

The MPO and consultant team recommended advancing both Reed Avenue and Old Happy Jack Road for additional study, pursuing entry into the FRA corridor identification program, maintaining railroad and Amtrak relationships, and coordinating with state partners on service development planning. Grauburger said the city should not eliminate either site now because each offers different trade-offs in cost, redevelopment potential and construction complexity.

“Both sites have a lot of potential,” Grauburger said. “We recommend you keep both on the table and pursue the corridor ID program to open federal funding opportunities.”

Council discussion closed with questions about timelines and equipment. Grauburger noted Amtrak and states are managing equipment lead times and that initial service often begins with used or refurbished equipment while new procurements proceed. The presenters concluded by directing staff to follow up on environmental funding questions and to keep council informed as federal and regional planning moves forward.