Fitzsimons station is a

Regional Transportation District The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area in the U.S. state of Co ...

(RTD) light rail station on the R Line in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties, Colorado, United States. The city's population was 386,261 at the 2020 United States Census with 336,035 residing in Arapahoe County, 47,720 residing in A ...

. The station is located along the north side of Fitzsimons Parkway along Sand Creek Park and serves the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

Anschutz Medical Campus The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is the academic health sciences campus in Aurora, Colorado that houses the University of Colorado's six health sciences-related schools and colleges, including the University of Colorado School ...

via a free

shuttle bus A shuttle bus is a bus that travels a shorter route in comparison to most bus routes. Typically, shuttle buses travel in both directions between two points. Shuttle buses are designed to transport large groups of people who are all travellin ...

. The station opened on February 24, 2017, along with the rest of the R Line. It was originally planned to be located further south on Montview Boulevard, closer to the campus, but was moved in 2013 to prevent vibrations from affecting research equipment.

History

The station was one of two planned in 2001 on the former

Fitzsimons Army Medical Center Fitzsimons Army Hospital, also known as Fitzsimons General Hospital and renamed Fitzsimons Army Medical Center (FAMC) in 1974, was a U.S. Army facility located on in Aurora, Colorado. The facility opened in 1918 and closed in 1999. The grounds ...

, an area that Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority developed into a campus anchored by the then

University of Colorado Health Sciences Center The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is the academic health sciences campus in Aurora, Colorado that houses the University of Colorado's six health sciences-related schools and colleges, including the University of Colorado Schoo ...

. The second planned for the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center became

Colfax station Colfax station is an Amtrak train station in Colfax, California. Served by the '' California Zephyr'', it is unstaffed. The station was built in 1905 by the Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initi ...

. The R Line was approved as part of the 2004

FasTracks FasTracks is a multibillion-dollar public transportation expansion plan under construction in metropolitan Denver, Colorado, United States. Developed by the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the plan consists of new commuter rail, light r ...

ballot measure, which planned to build a light rail line along

Interstate 225 Interstate 225 (I-225) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Colorado. The freeway is a connector spur route of I-25 that acts as an eastern bypass in the Denver metropolitan area and serves Aurora. It also provides direc ...

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

. As part of the light rail line, a station at Fitzimons Commons near the Anschutz Medical Campus was planned along Montview Boulevard at Uvalda Street, and was initially named Montview. In May 2013, the University of Colorado requested that the light rail station be moved off of its campus due to concerns that vibrations and

electromagnetic interference Electromagnetic interference (EMI), also called radio-frequency interference (RFI) when in the radio frequency spectrum, is a disturbance generated by an external source that affects an electrical circuit by electromagnetic induction, electrost ...

generated by trains would interfere with research equipment. The proposed $20 million in mitigation would have included construction of a floating rail bed and replacement of new equipment in the research labs. On June 25, 2013, the RTD Board of Directors approved the realignment of the light rail line onto Fitzsimons Boulevard, with a new station north of the campus connected via a shuttle bus. The relocated station required the acquisition of land from Sand Creek Park, which underwent $3 million in renovations alongside light rail construction in 2015. The station opened along with the rest of the R Line on February 24, 2017, several months after its scheduled opening due to construction delays.

Transit-oriented development

Fitzsimons station is located to the north of the

Fitzsimons Life Science District Fitzsimons (also spelled FitzSimons, Fitzsimmons or FitzSimmons) is a surname of Norman origin common in both Ireland and England. The name is a variant of "Sigmundsson", meaning son of Sigmund. The Gaelicisation of this surname is Mac Shíomóin ...

and Fitzsimons Innovation District, a

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship betw ...

that surrounds the Anschutz Medical Campus. The city of Aurora plans to build housing, hotels and office space on the land between the station and medical campus, including redevelopment of the

Fitzsimons Golf Course Fitzsimons (also spelled FitzSimons, Fitzsimmons or FitzSimmons) is a surname of Norman origin common in both Ireland and England. The name is a variant of "Sigmundsson", meaning son of Sigmund. The Gaelicisation of this surname is Mac Shíomóin. ...

. A

park-and-ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (ra ...

garage was proposed at the station in 2013, but was not built with the station.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzsimons (RTD) RTD light rail stations Transportation buildings and structures in Aurora, Colorado Railway stations in the United States opened in 2017 2017 establishments in Colorado