#StreetFail: Drivers Can Now Blast Right Down 19th Ave at Sherman Street without Stopping

It took six years, but Denver Public Works finally gave 19th Avenue a road diet in April, slimming it down from a one-way speedway into a two-way street with bike lanes. The project calms traffic and should makee biking and walking safer. On most parts of the street.

But if you’re crossing at 19th and Sherman Street, you probably don’t feel any safer, because motorists can now blast through an intersection where traffic lights once slowed them down. This dangerous setup is one block from an elementary school and a high school.

These photos are from two separate crashes. One took place this morning, the other on June 18. Both incidents ended up with multi-ton hunks of metal landing where people walk and stand. No one was seriously hurt in either crash, according to Denver Police Department.

Streetsblog reader and Bike Denver staffer Ameir Mobasheri sent us both sets of photos. “Without a stop sign on 19th, I predict more collisions from people poking their nose out to see down the intersection,” Mobasheri wrote back in June. Fast forward a couple months and Mobasheri’s premonition of another crash is now reality.

Four-way traffic lights used to control the intersection of 19th and Sherman, but the redesign called for their removal. DPW replaced the lights on Sherman with stop signs, but Mayor Michael Hancock’s streets agency didn’t replace the lights on 19th with anything.

Pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers could have easily been badly hurt, or worse. Two crashes. Two cars on the sidewalk. Two schools nearby. This intersection is screaming for two more stop signs, and it should take days, not months or years.