From Streetsblog

• Commentary by Allen Cowgill: I-270 Expansion Will Harm Latino Communities, Increase Air Pollution, and Accelerate Climate Change (Streetsblog Denver)
• Wednesday’s Headlines Help Us Dig Ourselves Out (Streetsblog USA)

Traffic Violence and Safe Streets

• A driver hit and seriously injured a person walking yesterday at S. Parker Road and Harvard (DPD Twitter)
• Aurora police ask for help locating hit-and-run [driver of] vehicle who hit a person walking yesterday at westbound E. Colfax and Beeler Street. Call Crime Stoppers (720-913-STOP) with info. (Fox31)
• 85-year-old bike rider hit and killed by garbage truck [driver] in Aurora, and both these news outlets seem to think the truck was driving itself (CBS4, 9News)
  • The Auroral Sentinel wrote a better headline: Dump truck driver strikes, kills 85-year-old cyclist crossing Havana Street in Aurora (Aurora Sentinel)
• Safe walking, biking, and transit means more than safety from drivers. Walking while Black should not be deadly.
  • Independent experts discuss findings in Elijah McClain’s death investigation (Fox31)
  • The Aurora City Council reacts to the Elijah McClain investigation that found officers mishandled the encounter (Colorado Matters/CPR)
  • Aurora Police Department to get independent monitor following Elijah McClain’s death (Colorado Sun, Aurora Sentinel)
  • Elijah McClain Report: Aurora Police Detective Tells 911 ‘He Got The Help He Needed’ (CBS4)
  • ‘Elijah McClain Should Still Be Here’: Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson responds to report (CBS4, Denverite, Fox31)
  • Littwin: According to a newly released report on Elijah McClain’s death, the only innocent person involved was McClain himself (Colorado Sun)

Denver, RTD, and the Metro Area

• Denver considering extending Shared Streets Initiative past March (Fox31)
• Design-build contract for 16th Street Mall revamp will cost city $149M (BusinessDen)
• RTD wants you to take a five-minute Safety & Security Survey by March 10 (RTD)
• RTD Black History Month feature: Three Black-owned businesses that worked on FasTracks (RTD)
• Transportation barriers to getting the COVID-19 vaccine and some helpful resources (9News)
• Denver Air Quality Index: 8 a.m.: 42 (Good). Yesterday’s max: 49 (Good).

Centennial State

• Colorado officials discuss challenging road ahead for state’s transportation funding (Grand Junction Daily Sentinel)
• Durango school zones to get upgraded signs and striping thanks to CDOT grant (Durango Herald)

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Traffic Violence and Safe Streets

Safe walking, biking, and transit means more than safety from drivers.

• More on the independent investigation into the death of Elijah McClain at the hands of Aurora Police and Aurora Fire (CBS4, Fox31, 9News, Westword, Colorado Politics, the role of implicit bias on CBS4, police and fire chief story on 9News)
  • Interviews with Elijah’s mom (Fox31, CBS4) and dad (Fox31)
  • Editorials: The truth about Elijah McClain’s death must come out (Denver Post) and Aurora must set policing standards, not police (Aurora Sentinel)
• Dump truck [drivist] collides with bicyclist in Aurora and causes life-threatening injuries, and Fox31 seems to think the dump truck was driving itself (Fox31)

Denver, RTD, and the Metro Area

• RTD General Manager and CEO Debra A. Johnson to participate in TransitCenter webinar today at 3 p.m. (RTD)
• Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001votes overwhelmingly for one-year contract extension with RTD (Colorado Politics)
• RTD Expected To Transform Some Park-N-Ride Lots Into Affordable Housing (CBS4)
• Governing cites Denver and Boulder as examples of successful pedestrian malls in The Strange, Troubled History of Pedestrian Malls (Governing)
• Denver Air Quality Index: 8 a.m.: 47 (Good). Yesterday’s max: 49 (Good).

Centennial State

• Democratic leaders tell local officials time is right to fund transportation (Colorado Politics)
• CDOT proposal for Poncha Springs intersection of U.S. 285 and U.S. 50 doesn’t include roundabout (Mountain Mail)

From Streetsblog

• Tuesday’s Headlines from Around Our Nation (Streetsblog USA)
• Holland, Michigan Shows How to Put Pedestrians First in Winter (Streetsblog USA)
• OPINION: It’s Time to End NYPD’s Current Role in Crash Investigations (Streetsblog NYC)

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Traffic Violence

• Traffic Violence Report: 10 People Have Died in 2021, Compared to Five in 2020 (Streetsblog Denver)
• On Friday morning before 8:30 a.m., a driver hit a person walking at E. 46th Ave. and Leaf Ct. The driver fled the scene, and the pedestrian went to the hospital with a possible broken foot. If you have any info, call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP. (DPD Twitter, Fox31)
• A driver hit and seriously injured a person walking at W. Jewell and S. Grove on Saturday evening (DPD Twitter)
• Independent review faults Aurora police for stop preceding Elijah McClain’s death, subsequent investigation (Colorado Sun, Aurora Sentinel, Westword, Denverite, 9News)
  • Safe walking, biking, and transit means more than safety from drivers. Streetsblog Mass said it well: Streets Need to Be Safe for Black Lives, Too

Denver and the Metro Area

• 16th Street Mall Revitalization Moving Forward After Difficult 2020 (CBS4)
• How the Central 70 Project has progressed during the pandemic with fewer commuters (9News)
• Denver City Council meetings this week: Mon 5 p.m. General Public Comment Session; Mon 5:30 p.m. Full Council Meeting; Tue 9:30 a.m. Mayor-Council; Tue 10:30 a.m. Land Use Transportation Infrastructure Committee; Tue 1:30 p.m. Finance Governance Committee; Wed 10 a.m. (note early start time) Safety Housing Education Homelessness Committee; Wed 1:30 p.m. Business Arts Workforce Aviation Services Committee; Thu 9:30 a.m. Budget and Policy Committee; Fri 9:30 a.m. Council Good Governance session 2 of 4 (Agendas and links to watch)
• Denver Air Quality Index: 8 a.m.: 44 (Good). Yesterday’s max: 44 (Good).

RTD

• RTD hires three clinicians to assist customers experiencing mental health issues  (RTD)
• RTD features Black-owned businesses on L Line and 15/15L bus route for Black History Month (RTD)
• Longmont council to discuss RTD in closed session on Tuesday (Longmont Times-Call)
• Guest opinion: Nicholas Garza: RTD Needs to build the Northwest Rail Line now, not by 2050 (Boulder Daily Camera)
• RTD could sacrifice parking for more housing near stations (Denver7)
• RTD to ask for community feedback on train quiet zones, horn usage (Colorado Politics)
• RTD Board meetings this week: Tue 5:30 p.m. Board Meeting, and – confusingly – a simultaneous Special Board Meeting with the same Zoom info, including unanimous consent on a new Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Policy (Agendas and links to watch, GM’s report)

Centennial State and Beyond

• Notable Colorado road projects that aren’t funded, including $70 million for Denver metro area arterial transit improvements (Denver Post)
• Colorado’s attempts to pay for transportation improvements fall far short of other states… because TABOR (Denver Post)
• Historic Bridges are #1 on Colorado’s Most Endangered Places Just Announced by Colorado Preservation, Inc. (YourHub)
• CDOT says Bustang Park-n-Ride will open near Berthoud by end of 2023 (Loveland Reporter-Herald)

From Streetsblog

• Monday’s Headlines to Kick it Off Right (Streetsblog USA)
• ‘Land Bridge’ Seeks To Restore Minnesota Black Neighborhood (Streetsblog USA)
• Amtrak Is Ready to Grow. Will it Finally Get the Subsidy It Deserves? (Streetsblog USA)

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Denver, RTD, and the Metro Area

• RTD Wants More Housing Near Stations. It May Sacrifice Unused Parking Spots To Make That Happen (CPR)
• RTD Schedules Meetings On A, B, G & N Lines Quiet Zones (CBS4)
• Greyhound drops demolition eligibility request for Five Points building (BusinessDen)
• Denver Air Quality Index: 8 a.m.: 53 (Moderate). Yesterday’s max: 100 (Moderate).

Centennial State and Beyond

• Polis delivered the annual state of the state address, and here are the four times he talked about transportation. No mention of RTD. (Full speech text and video are on Colorado.gov)
  • My budget request moves forward vital projects, starting with much-needed repairs on roads across Colorado — from the Eisenhower Tunnel to the rural roads that our farmers and ranchers rely on. We’re going to make it easier for Coloradans and visitors to travel our great state — accessing the ski resorts and public lands that we love — while reducing traffic and improving our vibrant, beloved main streets in the process.
  • Looking ahead, we see transportation changing before our very eyes: more deliveries, car shares and ride shares. I look forward to working with you to accelerate electrification, expand multimodal transit options, save commuters money on gas, reduce emissions, and improve air quality.
  • As our transportation habits change, so should the way we support our transportation system. We should reduce vehicle registration fees to save people money and support the recovery, while modernizing the way we fund our transportation system. [Lengthy applause with hoots from audience, per Westword] I want to thank Senator Fenberg, Senator Winter, Speaker Garnett, and Representative Gray for their leadership on this important and challenging issue and their work to bring together the business community, local governments, and environmental advocates around the important need to reduce traffic.
  • By offering all Colorado vehicle owners the opportunity to purchase a park and public lands pass when they register their vehicle, we can expand affordable access to our great outdoors and ensure our state parks have a sustainable source of revenue to improve trails, expand camping, increase parking, and open new state parks. This kind of innovation embodies the Colorado way of solving problems, and I thank Majority Leader Fenberg for his partnership on this important initiative.
  • Polis called for a reduction to vehicle registration fees, which contribute more than $100 million a year toward roads and bridges (CPR)
  • The Colorado Sun annotated the governor’s speech (Colorado Sun)
  • 8 numbers that sum up Colorado’s State of the State, including some nuance on transportation funding (DenverPost)
• Advice from the Rocky Mountain Institute and Transportation for America: To Meet Climate Goals, Think Outside the Electric Car (CityLab)
• Summit County officials push for more public transit funding from state legislators (Summit Daily)
• The snow goes on, and so does Bustang (Telluride Daily Planet)

From Streetsblog

• Thursday’s Headlines as the Cold Continues (Streetsblog USA)
• Talking Headways Podcast: A Second Bay Crossing (And One Big ‘Ugh’). Guest: Sadie Graham, BART Program Director for Link21, a rail network planning program for the San Francisco Bay Area. (Streetsblog USA)

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The Metro Area and Way Beyond

• Boulder’s new racial equity plan will inform transportation planning and everything else (Fox31)
• Denver Air Quality Index: 8 a.m.: 63 (Moderate). Yesterday’s max: 64 (Moderate).
• Robotic geologist and astrobiologist rover “about the size of the car” lands on Mars (NASA)

From Streetsblog

• Friday’s Headlines to End Presidents Week (Streetsblog USA)
• Why We Need To Stop Calling Auto-Centric Roads ‘Assets’ (Streetsblog USA)
• Interview: California Freeway Expansion Projects Induce Travel, and Underestimate Impacts of Additional Driving (Streetsblog California)

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