R Line repairs in limbo, concerns grow among commuters and Aurora city leaders

Months after a light rail train derailed, RTD has not restored full service to the R Line.

It's the only light rail devoted to the City of Aurora and serves more than 100,000 people every month and while it has seen slower growth than some of the other lines, those numbers are up more than 30% year to year.

The delays now have many commuters and even city leaders asking questions.

Bennett Lewis and his family are among them but to understand how important that system is to them, you must understand how important work is to Bennett.

"Sometimes it's so messy," Lewis said in a 2020 interview with CBS 4

Having successfully completed a work transition program for young adults with special needs, he had just started a part-time job turning over surgery rooms at UC Health.

"He works and is making money and paying bills trying to be as independent as he can be which is great for a kid with some pretty significant intellectual disabilities," His mother Johanna Lewis said.

Now, she says he's landed a full-time position and gets to and from work on the R Line.

In September that train derailed leaving a portion of the line without service.

Bennett has been relying on the shuttle launched to fill that gap.

"Providing long-term bus shuttle support is a real challenge for RTD and that's also creating the need to periodically cancel regularly-scheduled bus service on other routes," RTD spokesperson Marta Sipeki said.

Without the staff and citing low ridership on the shuttle Sipeki says that service will no longer be provided and full service to the R Line she says isn't expected to resume before December.

"My son is very concerned about money. He can't do an uber every day and my husband and I can't pick him up we are trying to figure out ways to get him from the hospital to Dayton station," she said.

Raising the question why are repairs taking so long?

"Any competent manager would have a contingency plan in place because this incident could occur at any time to get the system back up in a reasonable amount of time," Mayor Mike Coffman said.

He says the delays and continued issues not only deter riders but any further cuts to service he says could impact the city as a whole.

"I think the fact is that the service has become so unpredictable my concern is it's having a chilling effect in terms of anyone wanting to build the kind of transit-oriented development I think we need," Coffman continued.

Until there's a fix, Johanna Lewis says they are considering a bus to another light rail or asking family and friends for help. 

"We are going to take it day by day," she said.