Complete Streets
Outdated street design that prioritized cars over people was holding our city back. That’s why we advocated for—and won!—new street design guidelines that create “Complete Streets.”
What are Complete Streets?
Our City needs state-of-the-art street design standards that create “Complete Streets” that are safe for all road users. These designs must prioritize traffic calming for pedestrian and bicyclist safety over driver convenience. That’s why we advocated for Denver to adopt updated street design standards that achieve the following core functions:
- Discourage speeding by design
- Encourage walking, biking, and/or public transit use
- Provide accessibility to all, regardless of age or physical ability
Furthermore, all street projects should incorporate these important “Complete Streets” elements.
- ADA accessibility
- Dedicated unloading zones
- Dedicated mass transit facilities
- Narrow vehicle lanes
- Wide sidewalks
- Pedestrian amenities
- Signal timing that reinforces safe speeds
- Signal-protected pedestrian crossings
- Pedestrian islands on multi-lane streets
- Protected bike lanes
Boulevard of Broken Hearts
Incomplete streets are anti-love. Watch our video to learn more about why we need street design standards that put people first!
Here’s what we’ve been up to:
Denver Complete Streets Design Guidelines
After using input from our 2020 Street Design Summit, and providing a draft of these guidelines available for public comment, the city of Denver officially adopted the new Complete Streets Design Guidelines at the end of 2020. This is a huge win, as the guidelines now allow for street design treatments that had not been previously used in Denver, but are proven to reduce speeding and increase safety for people walking, biking, and rolling. This includes access control and diverters, chicanes and pinch points, neighborhood traffic circles, raised crossings and intersections, and speed cushions, humps, and tables. You can read the new guidelines in detail below!
2020 Denver Street Design Summit
The Denver Street Design Summit, co-hosted by the Denver Streets Partnership and Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, brought together a diverse set of stakeholders to discuss community priorities for the use of street space, and to identify how new guidelines & standards can best support these priorities while mitigating conflict between competing demands on our street space. The City of Denver is using input from the Summit to inform their development of the Complete Street Guidelines, which will be released soon for public comment. You can read a summary report from the Summit below.
Read the Summit report2019 Valentine's Day Love-In
Thank you to everyone who joined our Love-In event on Valentine’s Day to share your love for complete streets! This event featured a guided walk and bike ride starting and ending at the Denver City-County Building, as well as opportunities to write valentines to elected officials and to learn about the Complete Streets Campaign. The rally also featured speakers from the community sharing why they love the concept of safe streets for all in Denver. Check out photos from the event below!
Related Resources
Traffic calming on 14th Ave makes travel to Civic Center easier for bikes and pedestrians
How To: Fix my street
Concerned about a specific traffic safety or mobility issue in your neighborhood? Here’s what you can do: Download this resource as a PDF
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