May 1, 2014
50 cents Jefferson County, Colorado | Volume 148, Issue 21
A publication of
goldentranscript.net
The W Rail has been up and running in Lakewood for a year, and the city and RTD said the line has been a huge success in its first year. Photo by Clarke Reader
One year closer to the future Lakewood celebrates the W Rail’s first year
Paul Noel Fiorino dances to music dedicated to Psalm 23, the Psalm of David. Photos by Amy Woodward
By Clarke Reader
creader@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Prayer expression through dance Dancers, worshippers and spiritual believers of the Rocky Mountain Sacred Dance Guild are confident there is more than one way to praise God and lift the spirit. “The Sacred Dance Guild is an international interface organization of people who celebrate their spirit, their faith through movement,” said Joceile Nordwall, member of the Rocky Mountain Sacred Dance Guild. “When one dances the holy comes, it’s just a total spiritual experience to dance to your faith.” This year’s Sacred Dance Guild’s spring program titled All God’s Children was held at the First United Methodist Church in Golden on Saturday, April 26. It brought together a collection of beliefs from Christianity to Muslim with dancers expressing prayer, praise and lament. “The whole body praying together is an amazingly powerful experience, it gives you strength in your walk in life to bring your spirit with you into your life,” said Christina Bryan, board member of the Rocky Mountain Sacred Dance Guild. “I would encourage anyone who has two feet and walks, to try movement prayer, to try being with people who use their bodies to pray and to just experience it.” To get involved contact Christina Bryan at christina.bryan@colorado.edu or call 303-359-1878. More information about the Sacred Dance Guild can be found online at www.sdgrockymountainnetwork.org.
Mary Wohl Haan, choreographed her own dance performance to Akihiro Miwa’s hypnotizing composition titled “The Song of the Black Lizard.” Hope Golden and her dancing companion Anika Edwards; not pictured, bring an uplifting form of praise during their dance performance.
The W Rail line has already been up and operating for a year, and the changes it has brought to Lakewood and surrounding areas are both obvious and subtle. It might still be strange for some to see the nearly silent W Rail cars sailing along U.S. Highway 6 or cutting through the neighborhoods of the Lakewood, but since opening on April 26 the line carries around 14,000 riders daily, according to Julia Yugel, public relations specialist with RTD. “That number is projected to go up to 30,000 by 2030,” she said. “ What’s most exciting is that the W line is just the beginning of a larger public transportation plan envisioned through FasTracks.” Yugel said RTD has received comments about how easy the new rail has made to get to sports events and get to downtown Denver. Lakewood city manager Kathy Hodgson acknowledges that the process hasn’t been entirely smooth in switching RTD’s focus to the W Rail, sometimes at the cost of routes that people have become accustomed to. “The process isn’t perfect and it does create changes that can be tough,” she said. “We’re really hopeful that things will be smoother moving forward.” In the months after opening, some riders of buses voiced dissatisfaction with changes in the routes, which caused delays and route changes. Some of the most affected lines include the 16X, 17X, 87X and 100X. The 116X, 87X and 100X lines returned in slightly modified forms. According to Hodgson and Travis Parker, director of Lakewood’s planning department, the city has seen an increased interest in development, and a large part of that comes from the W Rail. “We’re seeing changes in the development patterns around the W Rail, and we’re trying to integrate new transportation options into the developments,” Parker said. “The W Rail has been one of the main reason we’re looking at other transportation options like increased bicycle and pedestrian access and transportation sharing options.” Future continues on Page 20
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