A new report from the city’s Denveright planning initiative affirms just how hard it is to get around Denver on foot or in a wheelchair.

The data bears out what many people experience every day: When you walk on Denver streets, you have to deal with missing or inadequate sidewalks and wide, dangerous streets where official crossings are scattered too far apart.

About 40 percent of Denver’s street network lacks good sidewalks, according to the report, “Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails Existing Conditions.” Walking infrastructure is worse in low-income neighborhoods, and it’s barely any better around important destinations like transit stations, parks, and schools.

It’s a bad sign when you have to walk two football fields to reach a walk signal

When police and local media blame people crossing mid-block for getting struck, here’s a big part of the story they don’t tell: The average distance between traffic signals where people can cross with a walk sign is 1,211 feet.

On Denver’s major “arterial” streets like Federal Boulevard, Colfax Avenue, and Colorado Boulevard, the average is 1,133 feet.

That means that in much of the city, you might have to walk as far as two football fields to reach a crossing with a signal. No wonder people choose to cross mid-block.

Sidewalks are worse in poorer neighborhoods

Citywide, 40 percent of the street network either has sidewalks that are too narrow or missing entirely. In low-income areas, sidewalk conditions are even worse — 47 percent of the street network isn’t up to snuff.

This inequality is not news. It’s the inevitable result of a system that forces private citizens to pay for public sidewalks.

Important destinations aren’t pedestrian-friendly

Residents see transit, schools, grocery stores, and parks as the most important destinations, according to Denveright surveys. In a city that values walkability, special attention would go toward creating cohesive pedestrian infrastructure around these places. But right now, the condition of sidewalks near these locations is barely any better than the city as a whole.

Walking is the foundation of any city’s transportation system, but for a long time Denver hasn’t paid enough attention to the pedestrian experience. The Hancock administration has a chance to finally correct the neglect of the pedestrian network with revenue from the bond measure coming up this November. Fixing these well-documented problems, not a short-sighted one-shot dose of funding for road maintenance, should be the priority.