David Sachs
David cut his teeth covering transportation, development, politics, education, and art in D.C. He's covered sustainable transportation for Streetsblog since 2015 and has lived in Denver's Cheesman Park neighborhood since 2012.
Recent Posts
Scenes From the First Day of South Broadway’s Parking-Protected Bike Lane
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More than a year in the making, the Broadway protected bike lane opened today, giving people on bikes a safe way to travel — for a half-mile, anyway — down a street referred to as “Denver’s spine” because it’s such a vital north-south connection. The two-way bikeway runs between Bayaud and Virginia avenues. One lane […]
Don’t Forget — Ride the Broadway Bike Lane Starting Monday
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Monday marks the beginning of what could become Denver’s most important bike lane to date: A two-way bike lane on South Broadway protected from traffic by parked cars. The parking-protected lane will only be a half-mile long, but hopefully that’s just temporary. If Denver Public Works okays it after a 15-month test period, the lane […]
Denver Council Weighs Three Options to Fix Broken Sidewalk Network
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Yesterday the City Council finally dug into the question of how to complete Denver’s patchwork sidewalk network. Sidewalk construction and maintenance currently falls entirely on individual property owners. It’s a policy designed to fail, with many people unable to afford sidewalks, and the quality of the pedestrian environment suffering as a result. People pay with their lives. […]
John Zois Killed Melissa Montañez With His Car, Then Denver PD Blamed Her
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Melissa Montañez was walking back to her dorm room at Johnson and Wales University around 10 p.m. on July 18 when John Zois rammed her with an Acura MDX on Quebec Street near 23rd Avenue. The impact killed Montañez instantly. Montañez, 19, was a culinary student. She wanted to own her own restaurant someday. Montañez did not […]
If You Want to Fix Sorry Bus Stops, Don’t Forget to Tell the DOT
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Streetsblog just wrapped up our 2016 Sorriest Bus Stop in America competition, with a waiting area on a state highway in Silver Spring, Maryland, beating out 15 other terrible bus stops for the crown of shame. For our voters, asking people to cross a six-lane divided road with no signal was unforgivable. To make the […]
New Route to Commerce City, More Consistent 15 Bus Part of RTD Changes
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A few times a year RTD examines its bus and rail routes and tries to optimize them by doing things like adjusting frequency, adding buses, or changing the route. This fall the transit agency will launch a new bus route, the 62, between Stapleton and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park/Commerce City Civic Center. RTD will also […]
B-Cycle Lowers Per Trip Rate in Hopes of Encouraging More Rides
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It will cost a little less to rent a B-Cycle for 30 minutes, at least until the end of August. Earlier this year, in an attempt to raise revenue while also growing ridership, Executive Director Nick Bohnenkamp eliminated the $9 day pass in favor of offering single rides of up to 30 minutes. But at $7 a […]
#ParkFail: Don’t Even Think About Walking Straight Through Commons Park
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When lots of people walk a particular route through the grass, they form trails called “desire lines.” These paths reflect how people prefer to get where they’re going — usually the most direct route possible — even if engineers and planners did not intend it. You can see it in action at Commons Park, between Lower Downtown and […]
Take a Look at the Protected Bike Lane Coming to 14th Avenue
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Denver Public Works has finalized the plan to redesign West 14th Avenue with a parking-protected bike lane between Speer Boulevard and Bannock Street. The half-mile bike lane will be installed next spring, planners said at a public meeting Tuesday. The project actually calls for the bike lane to extend about 500 feet past Bannock — which is great if […]
Memo to Denver Post: What Makes Driving Miserable Is the Cars, Not Transit
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They almost did it. The Denver Post editorial board almost wrote a smart opinion piece on the need for a transit overhaul in this city. Launching from an excellent article by the Post’s Jon Murray that examined the many gaps in Denver’s transit system, the editorial included some nuggets of sensibility. Like “transit options are sparse and impractical in pockets of […]
Study: Free Parking at Rail Stations Is Costing RTD Big Time
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There’s no such thing as free parking. Just ask RTD. It costs the agency millions of dollars a year to give away spaces at its expansive park-and-ride lots, according to a study it released last month [PDF]. Across metro Denver, RTD could raise tens of millions of dollars annually if it charged for parking. That’s money which could be […]
Eyes on the Street: East Colfax Gets More Color at Two Intersections
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The Colfax Avenue Business Improvement District hosted the Art-i-fax Street Party on Saturday, where Denver Public Works opened up parts of Colfax and its side streets to people, so volunteers could add some color and creativity to two intersections. These pieces are at Race and Williams, several blocks away from two new intersection murals on […]