A few weeks ago, we shared our thoughts on the draft East Central Area Plan, and the importance of these neighborhood-focused plans for achieving the citywide vision laid out in Blueprint Denver, including making people walking and rolling the top priority of our transportation system.
Now the City has released the draft East Area Plan – similar name, different area! – providing another important opportunity for residents to weigh in on how well the plan supports the creation of people-friendly streets. Focused on the four neighborhoods along East Colfax Avenue between Colorado Boulevard and Yosemite Street, the plan provides goals, recommendations, and strategies that will guide land use and transportation planning in South Park Hill, Montclair, Hale, and East Colfax for the next 20 years.
A distinctive feature of the East Area is its particularly bad sidewalk network. While missing, broken, and substandard sidewalks are a problem citywide, people walking in this part of town face an especially challenging patchwork of sidewalk conditions. Recognizing this, the draft plan calls for improving sidewalks in the area, but fails to address the fundamental problem: Denver’s backwards policy of requiring adjacent private property owners to build and maintain sidewalks. To actually fulfill the vision for a more walkable neighborhood, the plan must assert the need for Denver to take a more proactive approach that treats sidewalks like any other basic infrastructure by prioritizing public funding and construction solutions.
The draft East Area Plan also offers a lot to like, including measurable goals for reducing dependence on driving and eliminating traffic fatalities in the area, and clear policies for achieving these goals, very similar to the East Central Area Plan. These policies include making bold changes to the mobility system by repurposing street space along key corridors to prioritize safe and accessible walking, biking, rolling, and transit. We strongly endorse the recommendations for increased density along Colfax, Colorado, and other transit and commercial corridors. Allowing density near transit, major employment centers, and neighborhood-serving businesses maximizes the number of people who can access and use these services and amenities on a regular basis, expanding the benefit of transit investments.
Read more about our comments on the plan on the DSP website. Then visit the East Area Plan webpage, which has the full draft available for download as well as opportunities to submit comments via the general feedback form.
View and comment on the plan