Oct 17, 2024 DOTI Moves Quickly to Slow Drivers Down, Provide Safer Streets for All
DENVER – Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) is working with urgency in multiple locations across the city to make travel safer for all, with a particular focus on vulnerable roadway users, including people who walk, bike and roll. DOTI is looking to eliminate fatal and serious injury crashes in the city using proven safety measures, and to sustain current positive trends, noting a 20% decrease in traffic fatalities during the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, and a 33% decrease in pedestrian fatalities. A few projects recently completed and in progress are highlighted below, with some pictures provided here.
Completed: Safety Treatments on York Street
DOTI has transformed York Street between 18th and 40th avenues with treatments designed to slow vehicle speeds and make the stretch safer for pedestrians. DOTI has implemented a new three-lane configuration on York St. with one travel lane in each direction to slow drivers down and a center turn lane that helps prevent rear-end and other types of crashes by giving drivers a dedicated space to be in as they wait to make a left turn. Also added was striping to shorten pedestrian crossing distances at corners. The work was completed in conjunction with street paving operations that smoothed and improved the surface of the roadway and provided an opportunity for quick implementation of the new striping configuration.
Completed: Market Street Safety and Mobility Improvements
DOTI has finished installation of a protected bike lane on Market Street downtown that provides dedicated space on the street for people to ride from the Cherry Creek Trail all the way to Broadway! The final stretch of the bike lane was installed last month from 14th to 17th streets. DOTI also installed “bus only” lanes on Market Street from 14th to 17th. to make travel by transit a more efficient and attractive option and to support the city’s safety goals, as travel by bus is the safest way to travel in the city.
In Progress: Treatments to Slow Speeds on Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue
As part of a targeted effort announced by Mayor Johnston in June, DOTI has begun implementing changes on Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue to improve safety and reduce speeds on these two arterial roadways on the city’s high injury network. The work is a priority as speed is a major contributor to fatal and serious injury crashes. Work completed so far includes:
- Saturating both corridors with speed limit signs, placing one approximately every ¼ mile – a proven countermeasure to speeding.
- Adding 10 electronic driver speed feedback signs on Alameda Avenue to provide people with a visual reminder of how fast they’re going. Electronic signs are being installed on Federal Boulevard now and in the coming weeks.
- Implementing signal timing on Federal Boulevard south of Colfax Avenue that reinforces posted speed limits (hint: follow the posted speed limit to get more green lights). New signal timing will also be implemented on Alameda Avenue and on Federal Boulevard north of Colfax Avenue.
- Refreshing crosswalks and pavement markings at Federal Boulevard and 10thAvenue and “daylighting” the intersection, which involves pulling back parking at corners to increase pedestrian visibility.
More updates on the SPEED program will be provided as progress continues.
In Progress: Travel and Safety Improvements on Green Valley Ranch Boulevard
DOTI is making travel and safety improvements on Green Valley Ranch (GVR) Boulevard between Tower and Chambers roads in the Green Valley Ranch neighborhood. It follows improvements made in recent years that included adding sidewalks on the south side of GVR Blvd from Pena Boulevard to Telluride Street and 4.1 miles of protected bike lanes from Tower to the High Line Canal Trail. Work happening now includes upgrading landscaped medians on GVR Boulevard between Tower and Chambers with raised concrete curb to better separate travel lanes and visually narrow the roadway to slow speeds. The project is also extending the protected bike lanes on GVR Blvd further west past Tower to Pena Boulevard and is adding two new traffic signals – one at Kittredge Street and one at the first intersection east of Tower Road. Work is anticipated to be complete in late spring 2025. The improvements are an $11.9M investment in safety that includes $2.4M in voter-approved Elevate Denver Bond funding.
Starting Now: S. Monaco Pkwy Bridge Replacement with Better Sidewalks & Trail Improvements
DOTI has begun work this week to replace the Monaco Street Bridge over Cherry Creek, while enhancing safety for pedestrians by widening sidewalks on the bridge and reconstructing a portion of the Cherry Creek Trail underneath the bridge to improve mobility and reduce incidents of trail flooding.
During replacement of the bridge, two lanes of vehicle travel will be maintained in each direction on Monaco Street Parkway. Detour routes will be in place for pedestrians and cyclists. Turn restrictions and full closures on Cherry Creek North and South Drives at Monaco will be intermittently required to implement the safety improvements.
The Monaco Street Bridge over Cherry Creek is 60 years old. A full replacement of the bridge is made possible with $12.7M in funding from the Elevate Denver Bond program, which voters approved in 2017 to make improvements to critical infrastructure. The work will be completed in 2026.