Video: New 15th Street ‘Corner Wedges’ Slow Drivers When They Turn Onto Bike Lane

A pedestrian crosses 15th Street in Downtown Denver as a vehicle slows before turning around a newly-installed corner wedge safety treatment. Photo: Andy Bosselman
A pedestrian crosses 15th Street in Downtown Denver as a vehicle slows before turning around a newly-installed corner wedge safety treatment. Photo: Andy Bosselman

https://youtu.be/11_ldz3ZY3Y

The Department of Public works installed rubber curbs and plastic posts to create “corner wedges” within five intersections on the 15th Street bikeway downtown earlier this month. The pilot project aims to slow drivers as they turn left at intersections, helping to ensure they yield to bicyclists and pedestrians.

Last month on 15th Street, workers installed rubber curbs to transform a bike lane into a protected bikeway. The city added a vertical dimension to the lane when they installed plastic bollards between the curbs last week, according to Nancy Kuhn, a spokesperson for DPW. The city’s contractor will soon start work on a dedicated bus lane on 15th Street.

Similar treatments are planned for 17th Street, including a protected bikeway and dedicated busway. Weather permitting, they will be installed by the end of the year, according to Kuhn.

Traffic deaths have risen sharply this year. Street safety elements like protected bike lanes and corner wedges are part of Denver’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which follow Mayor Hancock’s 2016 pledge to end all traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030.

A pedestrian crosses the street near a newly installed corner wedge on 15th St. Photo: Andy Bosselman, Streetsblog
A pedestrian crosses the street near a newly installed corner wedge. Photo: Andy Bosselman
A cyclist navigates around a new corner wedge on the 15th St. bikeway. Photo: Andy Bosselman
A cyclist navigates around a new corner wedge on the 15th St. bikeway. Photo: Andy Bosselman

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