The most dangerous streets in Denver are major arterials, which are designed to move as many cars as fast as possible and are especially hazardous for anyone not in a motor vehicle. We can’t achieve Denver’s Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030 without focusing attention on these streets, and the best way to make arterial streets safer while moving a lot of people is to prioritize transit. By carrying more people in a smaller amount of space, transit lanes allow public space previously allocated for cars to be repurposed for people walking and biking, as well as trees, public seating, art, and other amenities that can transform highway-style arterials into people-friendly streets.
The good news is that Denver is gradually making these types of changes on two highly trafficked arterials: Broadway and Lincoln. In 2017, the City began converting existing, part-time transit lanes on Broadway (17th Ave to Exposition Ave) and portions of Lincoln (6th to 14th Ave) to 24-hour transit-only lanes, resulting in travel time savings and increased ridership along this corridor. Now the City has extended the dedicated transit lanes further south on Lincoln, between Broadway Station and 7th Avenue. While the new transit lanes are not 24-hour and the exact lane configuration changes depending on the time and day, we are glad to see travel lanes for non-transit vehicles reduced from four to just two during weekends on Lincoln, which makes the street feel less like a highway.
The Denver Streets Partnership worked with community members and the City to ensure the new transit lanes were accompanied by additional changes that make Lincoln safer and more comfortable for people walking, including new rubber curbing and bollards that shorten crossing distances and slow turning vehicles, as well as “daylighting” of intersections by pulling back parking to increase visibility. Every time the City touches a street, it’s an opportunity to make a range of changes that increase safety for everyone, and we hope to see the City make a habit of thinking of our streets more holistically.
The next phase of changes to this corridor is scheduled to begin in early 2022 and will include a protected two-way bikeway, pedestrian refuges, bus stop improvements, street trees, and art. Slowly but surely, these key streets in Denver’s transportation network are starting to transform into truly people-friendly arterials, and paving the way for similar changes throughout Denver.