We’re excited to share the efforts of local advocates and community members who want to make Denver’s streets better for people. This is a guest post from our friend Rob Toftness at the Denver Bicycle Lobby, about the Department of Transportation & Infrastructure (DOTI)’s decision to maintain recently installed traffic-calming measures on 7th Avenue, despite pushback from some residents and a good deal of media coverage.
By Rob Toftness
There will be good news. Strap in.
The Story So Far
7th Avenue has been a hotly debated corridor within the Denver bike network. Quite honestly, it shouldn’t have been this difficult. 7th Avenue was identified as a bikeway in the 2011 Denver Moves Bikes Plan. In 2020, DOTI began the Community Transportation Networks process which included 7th Ave. Finally, in 2023, 7th Ave began construction.
A surprise to no one, the local NIMBYs did not like it. Despite being planned for over a decade, we heard the go-to refrain, “No one told us this was happening.” What ensued was an avalanche of news articles, opinion pieces, videos, and interviews ranging from plain whacky to well-researched. The Fire Department weighed in and temporarily suspended traffic circle installations and then allowed them again. There was even a bluffed threat of recall for the District 5 Councilwoman.
At a neighborhood meeting held in Little Cheesman Park, one local man suggested there had not been any accidents, so why make changes? We at the Denver Bicycle Lobby reject the idea that a blood sacrifice must be made to make improvements to a street. Luckily, so did DOTI.
The Good Stuff
On January 19th, DOTI sent a community summary to the 7th Ave neighbors, local councilwoman, and, in a surprise inclusion, the Denver Bicycle Lobby, among others. What it included was a rundown of the work done to arrive at the project, some of the current concerns, completed improvements, and final design changes.
Here’s the good news. The improvements that some in the neighborhood wanted ripped out will stay. The traffic circles and diverters will not be removed. Improvements will be made.
Among them are:
- Modifications at 7th and Williams to reduce confusion. This includes adding pavement markings to clarify that westbound travel is for bikes only and moving signage to be more visible.
- Intersection improvements. Pedestrian crossing signage and crosswalk striping will be added at each traffic circle.
An encouraging note was added to the end of the summary. It reads:
DOTI is also in the process of updating its citywide bike plan, Denver Moves: Bikes Update. Included in this update will be defining a process for evaluating bikeways that feature semi-permanent materials and updating them with permanent (concrete) features. This plan will develop a process for how and when the City will update semi-permanent materials with permanent infrastructure.
Finale
There were many people hours spent advocating for this corridor. It represented an affluent neighborhood, once again trying to veto people on bikes’ safety. We are incredibly pleased that DOTI stuck to their commitment to safety.
This project enables network connections between Cap Hill, the Cherry Creek Trail, and the new South Broadway protected bike lane. Making these connections possible for riders is commendable and, for 7th Avenue specifically, we congratulate DOTI on a job well done and look forward to their future improvements.
We will leave you with their words:
DOTI is presently in the final stages of scheduling the final round of modifications to the corridor. After these changes are made, the project will be complete and no further modifications to the corridor will occur. As with all DOTI projects, we will actively monitor the installation and if additional pressing issues arise, they will be addressed at that point.
Happy riding!
We at the Denver Streets Partnership really appreciate that DOTI has stood firm on implementing proven safety measures on this street. If you do, too, take a moment to thank DOTI for a job well done and ask them to continue implementing safety projects like this around the city. The more they hear from us when they’ve done it right (instead of just when they’ve done it wrong), the more they’ll keep a strong position for safety on future projects in the face of resistance from opponents looking to maintain our car-centric status quo.