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
Denver Public Works’ 15th Street Bike Lane Isn’t Protected Anymore
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When the 15th Street bike lane debuted, it was the jewel of Denver’s bike network, but since then, the paint has faded, a lot of protective posts have been broken off, and it doesn’t feel nearly as protected as a protected bike lane should. It’s never been perfect, but now the 15th Street bike lane […]
Mayor Hancock, Public Works Open the Redesigned Blake Street Bridge
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Mayor Michael Hancock cut the ribbon on much needed improvements to the Blake Street bridge over 38th Street on Thursday. What was once a rundown, three-lane road without sidewalks is now a two-lane street with painted bike lanes in each direction and roomy sidewalks for people walking to and from the adjacent 38th and Blake […]
Denver Area Mayors Slam Tax Hike That Would Snub Transit, Subsidize Driving
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The Metro Mayors Caucus, an influential group of 41 mayors from Denver to Dacono, won’t be supporting a potential ballot measure to raise the statewide sales tax and use the proceeds to subsidize driving while leaving transit in the lurch. The Colorado Contractors Association wants people to pay up to $700 million more for everyday items each year in order to fund […]
How Will a Ride on the A-Line to DIA Compare to Rides in Other Cities?
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A little over two weeks from now, a notorious local rite of passage will end for many: Slogging in traffic to Denver International Airport. The A-Line from Union Station to DIA opens April 22. If all goes well, air travelers will gain a reliable way to catch the plane, and airport employees will gain an efficient commute. Transit lines connecting downtown to the airport work […]
Sign This Petition If You Think Colorado Traffic Laws Should Value Human Life
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Under Colorado law, drivers who injure someone walking or biking often get the same slap on the wrist as drivers who clip a car’s mirror. The charge is called “careless driving” and it carries four points on a driver’s license. It takes 12 points to lose driving privileges, so someone can hit a person, causing life-altering injuries like […]
This Week: Tell CDOT the I-70 Expansion Can’t Be Greenwashed
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Colorado DOT will host a meeting in Swansea on Thursday to gather feedback on the proposed “cap” that would be built on top of the wider, sunken I-70. CDOT has used the cap — which would be the site of a park for Swansea Elementary School — to sell the highway expansion, even though it would cover just a small portion of the highway trench. If built, […]
Now It’s Up to City Council to Solve Denver’s Sidewalk Woes
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After three rounds of testimony from people demanding decent sidewalks, the City Council’s Sidewalk Working Group will try to fix the dysfunctional policies that have contributed to Denver’s Swiss cheese network of crumbling sidewalks. At least one in four of all trips in Denver are less than one mile, according to the Denver Regional Council of Governments — those are trips that people can walk […]
Protected Bike Lane in Stapleton Shot Down By the Finance Department
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Residents of Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood want a two-way, parking-protected bike lane on 26th Avenue, a street that straddles Aurora and Denver. The redesign would provide a safer place for people to bike while calming traffic — benefits that would help the Hancock administration achieve its stated goals of eliminating traffic deaths and increasing bike trips. Instead Stapleton residents will get […]
The Death of David Washington and the Need for Better DPD Crash Reports
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The second Denver pedestrian killed by a driver this year was David Washington Jr., 26. According to a police report [PDF], he was lying in the westbound side of East Colfax near Wabash Street on the night of January 30, possibly because of “a medical issue,” when a woman ran him over with her Crown Victoria. Police did not charge […]
Road Builders Float 10 Ballot Measures That Snub Transit, Walking, and Biking
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The Colorado Contractors Association wants Coloradans to pay up to $700 million more in annual sales tax on everyday items in order to subsidize driving. To make that happen, they need voters to approve a tax hike on the November ballot. The CCA just filed 10 different potential versions of their ballot measure, clueing us in […]
Is Mayor Hancock Going to Let Albuquerque Beat Denver on Bus Rapid Transit?
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Denver Public Works is planning a watered down version of bus rapid transit for East Colfax Avenue that will start service in five years, if we’re lucky. Meanwhile, our southern neighbor Albuquerque is laying the groundwork to get real, center-running bus rapid transit up and running on its main drag, Central Avenue, by 2017. As Streetsblog USA’s Angie Schmitt […]
Sneckdown Redux: Blizzard Dumps Traffic-Calming on Denver Streets
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Just after the official start of spring and a 70-degree day, Colorado’s quirky weather handed Denver another snowstorm, and another chance to see how its streets can be redesigned. That’s right, it’s nature’s street design fix: The sneckdown. The term, if you’re not familiar, is a blend of “snowy neckdown.” (A neckdown widens sidewalks at street corners so drivers […]