Traffic Violence

• DA offers to dismiss charge against driver who hit and killed a person walking in Cortez, driver gets diversion agreement and 45 days of community service (The Journal)

Denver and the Metro Area

• Denver Martin Luther King Jr. Day Marade Goes Virtual During Coronavirus Pandemic (CBS4)
• Apartment Guide: Denver’s park system, walkability and activities downtown made it a top staycation location (Denver Post)
• Denver’s Union Station: A Colorado Neighborhood On The Fast Track (Forbes)
• Denver Air Quality Index:  9 a.m.: 44 (Good). Yesterday’s max: 45 (Good).

Centennial State

• Polis and cabinet release Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap to cut air pollution by 90%, “Accelerate the shift to electric cars, trucks, and buses” and “Make changes to transportation planning and investment and land use planning to encourage alternatives to driving” (Governor’s Office)
  • Critics want more on environmental justice (CPR)
  • Environmentalists want more detail (Colorado Sun)
  • Business leaders question feasibility (Denver Post)
• Colorado Contractors Association wants to pave the road — literally — to economic recovery (Colorado Politics)
• Good news: Roaring Fork Transportation Authority board votes to cover $2M+ funding gap for Glenwood’s 27th Street pedestrian underpass project, adding to a commitment the Glenwood Springs City Council made earlier this week (Post-Independent)
  • Federal relief money will be rolling RFTA’s way from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 (Aspen Daily News)

From Streetsblog

• Friday’s Headlines to Round it Out (Streetsblog USA)
• Talking Headways Podcast: Intro to the City, a conversation with Professor Sean Benesh, who is also an ordained pastor, about how unwelcoming to non-White people our public spaces are in this country (Streetsblog USA)
• NHTSA Blames Everyone But Itself For Crash Spike (Streetsblog USA)

Would you like to manage Streetsblog Denver and make it better?

If you become the next Denver Streets Partnership communications manager, running this publication will be part of your job. Read the communications manager job posting and apply by close of business on Friday, January 15. That’s today!

Support the nonprofit mission of Streetsblog Denver. Give $5 per month.

Denver and the Metro Area

• New RTD Boss Questions Wisdom Of Long-Promised Boulder Train, and she’s not the only one (CPR)
• Denver planning drive-up vaccination sites that “also have a walk-up option for folks who are using public transportation or walking” (CBS4)
• The Denver Regional Mobility and Access Council has openings on the Board of Directors (Contact DRMAC)
• Denver Community Active Living Coalition (CALC) and Denver Streets Partnership offer micro-grants to fund projects up to $1,000 that support work in walkability, bikeability, or access to safe and healthy spaces for physical activity (Denver CALC)
  • CALC also offers scholarships for Denver community members to attend conferences about active living (Denver CALC)
• Denver Air Quality Index:  9 a.m.: 43 (Good). Yesterday’s max: 69 (Moderate).

Centennial State and Beyond

• Colorado Politics reporter geeks out about highways and calls CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew the “state highway director” (Colorado Politics)
• CDOT legislative session priorities include main streets (Denver7)
• Colorado railroad wars revived in battle for Tennessee Pass Line, perhaps for passenger service (Colorado Times Recorder)
• The Colorado Energy Office released a Request for Applications (RFA) for proposals to develop and implement eBike deployment projects (Colorado Energy Office)
• Polis to give update on state’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap today (9News)
• Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. and city forge arrangement to help fund city’s Blue Line bus service (Steamboat Pilot & Today)
• Biden no longer taking Amtrak to inauguration amid security concerns (CNN)

From Streetsblog

• Trump Was Impeached, but Thursday’s Headlines Are Unimpeachable (Streetsblog USA)
• Could Augmented Reality Windshields End Distracted Driving? (Streetsblog USA)
• Drivers Are Still Top Polluters, Even During Quarantine (Streetsblog USA)

Would you like to manage Streetsblog Denver and make it better?

If you become the next Denver Streets Partnership communications manager, running this publication will be part of your job. Read the communications manager job posting and apply by January 15. That’s tomorrow!

Support the nonprofit mission of Streetsblog Denver. Give $5 per month.

Traffic Violence

• Denver Police still seek the driver of a white Ford pickup truck with damage to the driver’s side mirror. On Jan. 6, the driver hit a person walking at 20th & Federal and left the scene. (CBS4)

Denver and the Metro Area

• Proposed Jefferson Parkway Hits a Big Bump in the Road: Broomfield (Westword)
• Denver Air Quality Index:  10 a.m.: 62 (Moderate). Yesterday’s max: 68 (Moderate).

Centennial State

• Speaker of the House Alec Garnett (D-Denver), Sen. Kerry Donovan (D-Vail), and Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Monument (R-Monument) talked transportation funding at a Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce event (Colorado Politics)
• As Colorado Legislature convenes, talk of a ‘gas fee’ holds road-funding opportunities and obstacles (Denver Business Journal)
• Glenwood Springs prioritizes a pedestrian underpass at dangerous intersection, declines to extend MOVE Study using money dedicated to Rio Grande Trail improvements (Post-Independent)
• Colorado was an early adopter of roundabouts, especially in Golden and Vail. Kevin Simpson wrote a fascinating history of traffic circles in Colorado and across the country. (Colorado Sun)
• More coverage of the AAA Colorado study showing pedestrian deaths increased by 89% from 2008 to 2018 in Colorado, surpassing the national average, and Black and Latino populations are over-represented (Denver Post, CBS4)

Some Mobility-Minded Meetings

• The Denver Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC) Transportation Committee meets Thursday, Jan. 14 6-8 p.m. on Zoom and all are welcome. Guest speakers: RTD GM and CEO Debra Johnson, Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Executive Director Eulois Cleckley, Denver City Councilman Paul Kashmann, and Bicycle Colorado Director Of Government Relations Piep van Heuven. Other 2021 meetings are March 11, May 14, July 8, Sept. 9, and Nov. 11.  (Zoom registration and sign up for the email list)
• This year’s Bicycle Colorado Moving People Forward conference will be a series of virtual sessions from February 9-18. (Bicycle Colorado)

From Streetsblog

• Wednesday’s Headlines as the House Readies a Second Impeachment (Streetsblog USA)
• Paris Champs-Élysées Makeover Inspires U.S. Advocates To Push for Better City Arterials (Streetsblog USA)
• Data Confirm That More Fatal Crashes Happen in Massachusetts’ Black Neighborhoods (Streetsblog Mass)

Would you like to manage Streetsblog Denver and make it better?

If you become the next Denver Streets Partnership communications manager, running this publication will be part of your job. Read the communications manager job posting and apply by January 15. That’s this Friday.

Support the nonprofit mission of Streetsblog Denver. Give $5 per month.

Traffic Violence

• Denver Police seek the driver of white Ford pickup truck who hit and injured a person walking at Federal Blvd. and 20th Ave. on Jan. 6, then drove off (9News)

Denver and the Metro Area

• RTD…
  • Could get more power to lower fares and raise parking fees during the 2021 state legislative session (CPR)
  • Cutbacks are affecting Denver public transportation riders (Fox31)
  • Officials pledge to keep Longmont’s needs, desires in mind (Longmont Times-Call)
• Code changes for Denver group living, halfway houses clear first City Council vote… and would allow more people to live where they can walk, bike, and take transit if they choose (Denver Post)
• Denverite is hiring a reporter to cover Denver’s 78 neighborhoods, which is where all the streets and sidewalks are, so maybe you should apply if you’re journalistically inclined (Denverite)
• New Advisory Board members wanted for DOTI, here’s how to apply… just like we told you yesterday (Fox31)
• In Denver, are runners allowed to use the bike lane? (Denver7)
• Denver Air Quality Index:  10 a.m.: 56 (Moderate). Yesterday’s max: 59 (Moderate).

Centennial State

• AAA Colorado study: pedestrian deaths have increased by 89% from 2008 to 2018 in Colorado, surpassing the national average, and Black and Latino populations are over-represented (AAA Colorado, Colorado Politics, Fox31)
• Concerns grow over transportation to get COVID-19 vaccine… and this is our “not shocked” face 🤨  (Denver7)
• Colorado Springs Creekwalk project – which includes a landscaped walkway for pedestrians and bicyclists – is scheduled to be done this fall after pandemic-related delays (KRDO)

From Streetsblog

• Tuesday’s Headlines on the Eve of Impeachment (Streetsblog USA)
• San Francisco Advocate Urges Removal of ‘Beg Buttons’ (Streetsblog SF)
• Why It’s Time to Legalize the ‘Idaho Stop’ in New York (Streetsblog NYC)

Would you like to manage Streetsblog Denver and make it better?

If you become the next Denver Streets Partnership communications manager, running this publication will be part of your job. Read the communications manager job posting and apply by January 15. That’s this Friday.

Support the nonprofit mission of Streetsblog Denver. Give $5 per month.

Apply for the Denver DOTI Advisory Board by Jan. 31

If you recall much of November 2020 – and you are certainly forgiven if you don’t – you may recall that Denver voters voted to change the City and County of Denver’s charter to create a Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) Advisory Board. Applications are open through January 31 join the advisory board, which will have 19 members including six mayoral appointees and 13 City Council appointees. If appointed, you will advise DOTI on transportation policy and operations and review the department’s proposed annual budget. Read more about the DOTI Advisory Board and apply here by Jan. 31.

And now for headlines.

Traffic Violence

• On Thursday, a single-car rollover crash killed a man at 38th Avenue and Fox Street in Denver’s Globeville neighborhood. DPD is investigating. (Denver Post)
• Man run over by Vail bus [driven by a human] treated for non life threatening injuries (Vail Daily)

Denver and the Metro Area

• Major RTD service changes started yesterday (9News)
• The Denver/Colorado Springs Gazette has a series on the Central I-70 project:
  • Colorado I-70 construction problems lead to extra ‘$100 to $150 million’ cost
  • Denver’s Central 70 project: Digging in troubled ground
  • In two Colorado neighborhoods, even life expectancy is much diminished
  • Central 70 Project meets dozens of milestones, over 1 million hours in 2020
• Colorado Attorney opens grand jury investigation into death of Elijah McClain (5280, Fox31, Colorado Sun)
• Impeach Trump Rally Draws Nearly 100 Cars to South High… and presumably people drove the cars? (Westword)
• Denver Air Quality Index:  11 a.m.: 59 (Moderate). Yesterday’s max: 58 (Moderate).

Centennial State

• Per-capita car purchases increased 0.7 percent on average in the years after Uber, Lyft and other e-taxi giants deployed their fleets in more than 200 metro areas including Denver-Aurora, Boulder, Lafayette-Louisville-Erie, Longmont, Greeley, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Grand Junction (Streetsblog USA)
• U.S. Senate Considering $10B for Highway Removal (Streetsblog USA)
• Colorado’s top energy stories in 2020 includes some important transportation news (Mountain Town News)

From Streetsblog

• Monday’s Headlines to Get You Going (Streetsblog USA)
• A Reminder that Protected Bike Lanes Can Make Streets Safer for Everyone (Streetsblog California)
• Op-Ed: Finally, a Chance for Environmental Justice in the Federal Government (Streetsblog Cal)
• Listen: The newest Talking Headways Podcast is about housing, where to put it, and affordability (Streetsblog USA)
  • Then go weigh in on Denver’s proposed Group Living changes

Would you like to manage Streetsblog Denver and make it better?

If you become the next Denver Streets Partnership communications manager, running this publication will be part of your job. Read the communications manager job posting and apply by January 15.

Support the nonprofit mission of Streetsblog Denver. Give $5 per month.