13th and 14th Avenues through the Cap Hill neighborhood in Denver are dangerous, high-speed, one-way roads surrounded by homes and Cheeseman Park. For years, neighbors have asked the City to install infrastructure that would slow drivers down and force them to pay attention to pedestrians walking nearby. Back in 2018, we worked with the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN) neighborhood association on a pop-up traffic calming demonstration on 13th Ave at Marion and Lafayette Streets. We created bulbouts out of tires, cones, and planters, and sidewalks with spray chalk, to demonstrate what a calmer and slower street could look like. Read more about the project and the full report for details, but here’s a spoiler: traffic did slow down and neighbors loved it!
That’s why we’re thrilled that the City has finally turned this idea we had in 2018 into reality with new painted bulbouts with flexposts to help slow turning drivers and visually indicate crossing areas with extended (painted) curbs. The bulbouts also have small speed bumps to slow down drivers who drive over the paint. These new treatments have been applied at the intersections of 13th and 14th with High, Williams, and Gilpin Streets.
Rachel Griffin, a member of CHUN, shares some reflections on this promising development: “As someone who has witnessed countless speeding incidents leading to terrible crashes on 13th Avenue between York and Grant, I am thrilled that the improvements that Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods and Denver Streets Partnership have recommended over the years to slow 13th Ave in certain intersections continue to be prioritized. As a pedestrian and a driver on this corridor, I have noticed the increased sense of community and safety already! I look forward to the City collecting data to confirm that the treatments are actually making the street safer, and I’m excited to see what upgraded permanent and robust treatments are installed above and beyond paint and posts.”
We also heard from Mark Cossin, another Capitol Hill resident who helped plan the tactical urbanism project: “I’m thrilled to see the work of the many volunteers and partnering organizations who participated over the course of several days in the fall of 2018 to make the neighborhood traffic calming demonstration effort in Capitol Hill happen. I’m equally thrilled to see the city taking proactive steps now to make Denver streets safer for the community at large.”
We’re pleased and excited that CHUN’s tactical urbanism project and their advocacy has helped lead to this change on 13th and 14th Avenues. We’re looking forward to more street improvements for safety!