Cheyenne staff outline 15th Street railcar experience plan, set public meeting and timeline

City staff on Jan. 31 presented a refined master plan to the Cheyenne City Council for the 15th Street Railcar Experience — a downtown corridor project that would place historic railcars on 15th Street, add pedestrian amenities and street improvements, and install short-term infrastructure stubs for potential future restaurant or retail uses.

Tom Cobb, the city engineer, told the council the project’s immediate objective is to place four Economic Development Administration (EDA)–funded railcars on 15th Street and complete Phase 1 site work on a schedule that would have the cars in place by July 14, 2026. "The 15th Street Rail car experience quarter would be a living testament of its past while safely and comfortably moving people through its robust and accessible pedestrian friendly network," Cobb said, reading a project vision developed by staff and consultants.

The council heard that asbestos and lead abatement on four railcars already removed from the Swan site is complete. "The 4 railcars, the abatement for lead and asbestos is complete," said Paul Belotti, project engineer for the city. Belotti and engineering staff outlined four bid packages: (1) hazardous-material abatement (complete for the four cars), (2) exterior renovation/painting and a separate Old Sadie abatement/renovation package, (3) site design and Phase 1 construction (streetscape, sidewalk, curb, utility stubs), and (4) transportation and placement of the cars (including a bid alternate for the larger dining car).

Cobb said the plan will stub water and sewer to the site in Phase 1 so that future food or retail uses could connect without redoing the street later, but emphasized the stubs ‘‘are just being brought near the cars and capped’’ and would not be active services at this stage. He also said the plan retains 15th Street as a two-way street for traffic and adds an 8-foot clear pedestrian trail along much of the corridor, festoon lighting in key areas, and room to site four railcars (including the caboose and Old Sadie adjacent to the depot).

City staff presented preliminary parking and cost estimates. On-street parking would see a net loss of four spaces; a central parking lot would gain about 10 spaces (from 69 to 79); an east lot would lose about five; and a west lot would gain roughly five. Staff said, overall, if all elements were implemented there could be roughly 55–56 additional defined parking spaces compared with the current informal parking patterns, including six RV stalls included in the west lot concept. Cobb described the figures as schematic and subject to change as design progresses.

On costs, staff presented a Phase 1 estimate of about $4,857,643 in total funding to complete the red-boundary area shown in the presentation (which Cobb said would include placing the four EDA cars, site work for the plaza and plazas, and infrastructure stubs). The presentation separated federal EDA participation, local match and museum donation amounts; the council was given a line-item breakdown during the session. Cobb cautioned the site-prep estimate has uncertainty and could be scaled back to reduce cost (for example, by limiting plaza work while still allowing car placement).

Council members and staff discussed several outstanding issues the council said must be resolved as design advances: approval of repainting/restoration and color schemes (the Union Pacific Railroad must approve colors for railcars placed adjacent to or on their right-of-way), accessibility modifications to railcars if tenant uses require ADA access, ongoing maintenance and trash/cleaning responsibilities, and whether the large dining car (a bid alternate) should remain in active preparation when its final siting is not yet decided.

Renee Smith, the city’s economic resource administrator, told the council staff is pursuing an EDA planning grant to fund a business-plan and feasibility study for how tenants or operators might use the railcars and who would govern leasing. "We can request up to $100,000" for that planning grant, Smith said; if funded, she said the study could be completed within a year.

The council and staff scheduled a public stakeholder meeting on March 11 at the Laramie County Library from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and Cobb said consultants will also conduct one-on-one meetings with individual 15th Street business owners in addition to the public session. Cobb stressed that some railcars — described in the presentation as 8 feet wide and about 81 feet long — require specialized handling and crane or transport services to separate wheel trucks from the car bodies for movement. He said the city will coordinate required permitting through Union Pacific and the Federal Railroad Administration for placement on the track.

Several council members pressed for faster answers on two items: (1) how paint and branding decisions will be approved by Union Pacific and (2) a final plan and cost for the dining car that staff had placed as a bid alternate. Council members also asked the administration to estimate ongoing maintenance costs (trash, cleaning, security) and to clarify where event or carriage storage would be relocated if an existing carriage building is repurposed as restrooms/visitor space.

Cobb closed by reiterating the project is a multi‑phase effort tied to an EDA deadline and that many details will be resolved in later design and procurement steps. No formal council votes were taken at the Jan. 31 work session; the presentation was an informational work session and staff will return with procurement documents, public-input results and bid packages for council action later in the process.