THORNTON - Emotions ran high Wednesday night on both sides of a public meeting aimed at shaping the design of the FasTracks Light Rail North Metro corridor.

Some questioned the need for the project. Others wanted to make sure there was a station near their home.

About 200 people attended the forum at the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center. At first, most comments came from people opposed to seeing light rail pass within 40 feet of their homes.

"This will ruin my quality of life," said Dawn Olsen, a resident of Villages North near East 88th Avenue and Welby Road. "This will force me into bankruptcy."

Outside the meeting, Olsen, a real estate appraiser, said she voted to fund FasTracks, thinking that it would simply run parallel to Interstate 25, just as it does in the south metro area.

But the preferred route under consideration now would use Union Pacific or Burlington Northern railroad tracks.

That brought a storm of criticism from residents such as one woman who predicted that middle-class residents will flee their neighborhoods, leaving behind crime-ridden slums instead.

As the meeting wore on, however, several residents who favor living near light rail began to speak up.

"I'm looking forward to being able to get out of my vehicle and being able to walk to the station," said Bryan Belisle, an Eastlake resident.