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
It’s Never Too Late to Learn to Ride a Bike — Just Ask These Women
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The city has plenty of barriers that make biking an intimidating way to get around — speeding drivers, shoddy bike infrastructure. But for a group of nine women learning how to ride at Bicycle Colorado’s Bike School on Saturday, there are other obstacles they have to overcome first. Some of the students are immigrants who […]
The Opening of RTD’s A-Line and What’s Next for Denver Transit
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The A-Line between Union Station and Denver International Airport opened today to loads of fanfare: Two ribbon cuttings (one at each end of the line), 14 scheduled speeches, and a media train that departed at 5 a.m. As Streetsblog wrote earlier this week, the hype for the A Line has gotten a little out of […]
One Woman’s Story of Being Displaced by Colorado DOT’s I-70 Widening
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Denver neighborhoods are changing for lots of reasons, but one of the starkest is Colorado DOT’s I-70 expansion, which will cut a wide gash across north Denver. CDOT and Governor Hickenlooper point to the shiny park and new side streets attached to the project, even though those changes are table scraps in comparison to the 10-lane highway trench. Hickenlooper even said […]
Hickenlooper on I-70 Boondoggle: “Maybe My Facts Are Out of Date”
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Yesterday Governor John Hickenlooper went on Colorado Public Radio for his monthly interview with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner. Hickenlooper answered various questions on various subjects, and it was going smoothly until Warner asked the governor about his transportation department’s plan to widen I-70 through north Denver. Hickenlooper was all over the map. In the end, Hickenlooper tepidly […]
Denver Needs More Than a Train to the Plane to Become a Great Transit City
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As exciting as the impending debut of RTD’s A Line to Denver International Airport may be, the hyperbole is getting out of control. In a Denver Post story exclaiming that the Friday launch of the A line will “change the metro area forever,” DIA CEO Kim Day said her airport is “no longer competing with Dallas and Chicago, but we […]
How Can Denver Ensure Longtime Residents Benefit From Better Transit?
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There are two Denvers, Mile High Connects Executive Director Dace West said Tuesday: The one portrayed in the media as the best place to live, and the one that’s now too expensive for longtime residents to afford. West spoke during the transit advocacy group’s “regional call to action to address our gentrification and displacement crisis.” […]
This Week: Ensuring It’s Affordable to Live Near Transit
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As new RTD rail lines open, Denver’s transit options are expanding. One challenge that comes with the expansion of rail is ensuring that long-time residents can continue to afford their homes and benefit from the improvements. Mile High Connects, an organization that advocates for people who depend on RTD, is calling on decision makers and advocates to come […]
Aurora Sentinel Wants to Ban Technology That Saves Lives
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A bizarre thing happens whenever local and state governments debate the merits of electronic traffic enforcement: People who break the law get cast as victims. The Aurora Sentinel editorial board is the latest local publication to sympathize with red light runners and forget about the people they harm. Yesterday the Sentinel threw its full weight behind a local […]
2nd Avenue Bike Lane Will Fill a Gap in Denver’s Bike Network
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Denver Public Works plans to paint un-protected bike lanes on West 2nd Avenue in Barnum, between Lowell Boulevard and Federal Boulevard, in May. It’s just a half-mile stretch, but combined with a second phase planned for later in 2016, the new lanes will fill a gap in the city’s bike network. The bike lanes will connect […]
Eyes on the Street: New Markings at 17th and Wynkoop Near Union Station
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The intersection of 17th and Wynkoop is about to get much, much busier. Three new RTD rail lines will start serving Union Station this year, including the A-Line to Denver International Airport, which opens April 22. That means thousands more people will pass through one of Lower Downtown’s busiest intersections on their way to and from the transit hub. […]
Highway Hick: Illustrating the I-70 Boondoggle’s Fearless Leader
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What does a governor who won’t stop a zombie highway boondoggle look like? Brad Evans, who founded the rapidly growing “Ditch the I-70 Ditch” Facebook group, imagines something like this. “I did it because, really, Streetsblog came up with that ‘Highway Hick’ name and I just felt like someone needed to put a picture to it,” Evans said. “It’s designed […]
DPW Syncs Signals on 16th Ave to Give Cyclists a “Green Wave”
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Denver Public Works just changed 16th Avenue’s traffic signals to align with biking speeds, so people on bikes will hit fewer red lights and drivers will travel at safer speeds. The bike-friendly traffic signals are in effect weekdays between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m, heading west into downtown. They stretch from Park Avenue West to Broadway, about one mile. This […]