DSP concerned about lack of bus rapid transit connections in Denver Moves Everyone Draft Short-Term Improvements

November 22, 2022

Adam Phipps
Executive Director
Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure

Dear Director Phipps,

On behalf of the Denver Streets Partnership (DSP), we are writing to express our concerns about a major missed opportunity in the Denver Moves Everyone Draft Short-Term Improvements recently released for public comment. The DSP is a coalition of community organizations advocating for people-friendly streets in Denver. On people-friendly streets, walking, rolling, biking, and transit are the first choices of transportation for all people. Streets for people are living, public spaces that connect us to jobs, schools, services and each other, and are designed to foster health, happiness, and opportunity for all.

We are pleased to see the draft recommendations include “35 to 45 miles of Bus Rapid Transit corridors, which will match the experience of taking light rail” and “30 to 35 miles of bus lane improvements to make buses quicker and more reliable.” Investments in fast, frequent, reliable transit are essential for addressing many of the urgent issues facing our community, including equitably reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, saving lives, increasing affordability, and expanding access to opportunity for all residents. We further agree with the prioritization of BRT on Colfax Avenue, Federal Boulevard, Speer Boulevard, Colorado Boulevard, and 38th Avenue—transit corridors that already have high ridership and serve not only densely populated areas, but also lower-income communities that rely on transit to reach employment and other daily destinations.

We are extremely disappointed, however, that the draft recommendations do not actually call for connecting these BRT lines through the heart of central Denver, to begin creating a truly gridded network of rapid transit that would support Denver’s ambitious mode shift goals. As the map below shows, the areas surrounding the intersections of Federal Boulevard, Colfax Avenue, and Speer Boulevard encompass 237 acres of land—an area nearly the size of the Central Business District—that is currently being redeveloped or will likely undergo significant redevelopment in the near future. This includes the planned River Mile development, the Ball Arena redevelopment, Auraria Campus Master Planning effort, the Burnham Yards redevelopment, Sun Valley redevelopment, Stadium District Master Planning effort, and the development opportunities made possible by redesign of the Colfax/Federal cloverleaf interchange. Failing to redesign the streets and connect the major transit improvements through this area in coordination with this redevelopment would be an enormous missed opportunity to catalyze progress towards our City’s safety, equity, and climate goals.

We therefore strongly urge you to amend the Denver Moves Everyone Draft Short-Term Improvements to extend and connect the planned BRT routes through central Denver, as shown in red on the map below. Specifically:

• Extend the planned Colfax Avenue BRT all the way to Federal Boulevard (including connections to the W Line).
• Extend the planned Speer Boulevard BRT all the way through downtown, across Colfax Avenue, to Federal Boulevard.
• Extend the planned Federal Boulevard BRT all the way across Speer Boulevard to 38th Avenue. Ideally Federal Boulevard BRT should extend all the way to Denver’s northern city limits to eventually connect with the B and G Line stations.

This close coordination of planned land use redevelopment and major transit improvements would be a visionary transformation in the heart of Denver that is deeply aligned with aspirational goals of not only Denver Moves Everyone, but also the recently updated Blueprint Denver plan. Together these changes would go a long way toward making our city more healthy, safe, sustainable, inclusive and livable for everyone.

Sincerely,

Jill Locantore
Executive Director
Denver Streets Partnership

Kacie Warner
Co-president
Athmar Park Active Living Coalition

Piep van Heuven
Director Government Relations
Bicycle Colorado

Andy Baldyga
Board of Directors, Chair
Colfax Ave Business Improvement District

Peter Krahenbuhl
CEO
Colorado CarShare

Jaime Lewis
Transit Advisor
Colorado Cross Disability Coalition

Adrew Iltis
Vice President, Planning and Community Impact
Downtown Denver Partnership

Kate Stigberg
Senior Director of Strategy & Projects
Healthier Colorado

John Deffenbaugh
Senior Director of Activism
RiNo Art District, BID, GID

Dan Shah
Executive Director
West Colfax BID

Max Nardo
Lead Organizer
YIMBY Denver

CC:

Chris Hinds
Stacie Gilmore
Robin Kniech
Debbie Ortega

Download this letter as a PDF by clicking here.

11/22/2022