RTD's FasTracks staff has reversed gears to recommend a money-saving, time-saving shift in location for a new commuter rail yard that also pleases political and neighborhood interests.

The staff advised the RTD board Tuesday night that a commuter rail maintenance facility, a $274 million piece of the $7.9 billion FasTracks program, should be built in an industrial area along Fox Street between 48th Avenue and 53rd Place.

That's a switch from the formerly recommended site - RTD's Platte Division bus facility at 31st Street along the South Platte River. Going with that site would have required RTD to delay building the commuter train yard until after a replacement bus facility could be built.

It also would have required RTD to spend $100 million now to build the new bus barn, a project not scheduled until after FasTracks' 2017 completion date.

And for the triple-whammy, the old recommendation had several opponents.

RTD had been eyeballing a new bus facility at the vacant Denver Post printing plant at the Mousetrap interchange. But the site was purchased a year ago by a developer who, after initially offering it to RTD for the rail facility, changed his mind when faced with the prospect of a bus facility.

At Platte, developers of the Taxi redevelopment next door to the bus facility were opposed to the train yard.

The new site, which appears to please both neighbors and developers, became feasible for RTD after two things occurred.

One, a team of outside professionals from the transit industry last fall reviewed FasTracks and recommended a number of cost cuts. A key one was to shrink the footprint of the commuter facility, saying RTD had oversized it.

Next, the FasTracks Gold Line corridor was forced to plan its tracks east of the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe flatcar trailer yard between Inca and Fox streets. That meant RTD had to acquire three industrial sites along Fox Street. The extra land provides room for the commuter rail facility.

Ironically, one of the businesses RTD needs to acquire is Rocla Concrete Tie Inc., which has produced all of the concrete ties RTD has bought for all four of its light-rail projects.

flynnk@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5247