lane widening
CDOT Relied on Absurd Traffic Projections to Make the Case for Widening I-70
To justify widening I-70, the Colorado Department of Transportation used traffic projections that are completely out of step with the last decade of observed travel patterns in the Denver region. CDOT wants to spend an estimated $1.8 billion widening I-70 from six lanes to 10 lanes between I-25 and Tower Road. In its draft environmental impact statement, CDOT … Continued
June 3, 2015
Mayor Hancock’s Sheridan Blvd Plan: Feel Good, Do Nothing
Anyone who’s walked down Sheridan Boulevard knows it’s a dangerous street where dirt mounds replace sidewalks, drivers ignore the 35 mph speed limit, and crossing the street means dodging five lanes of traffic. It’s a nightmare for pedestrians and the Colorado Department of Transportation knows it. But that’s not stopping them from widening lanes nearby. Between 2010 … Continued
June 2, 2015
CDOT’s ‘Bold’ Plan to Reach ‘Intermediate Goal’ of Fewer Traffic Deaths
It’s 2015 and Denver is urbanizing as fast as anywhere else in the country. We’re still on the upslope of density, transit, and walkable and bikeable infrastructure. Which means there’s a ton of work to do to create great urban streets where people come first and cars no longer dominate. The Colorado Department of Transportation’s adoption of the Toward Zero … Continued
May 27, 2015
Wes Marshall on How to Make Denver a Walkable City With Safe Streets
When Steve Jobs built the iPod, he had his team design its remarkable look and intuitive function before asking them to cram the technology inside. That’s how CU Denver professor Wes Marshall thinks about Denver’s transition to becoming a 21st century transportation city — think big and then figure out the small stuff. Marshall is an engineer who thinks like … Continued
May 19, 2015
Denver Business Journal: Bike Lanes Are a Conspiracy Against Drivers
Denver Business Journal Editor Neil Westergaard went old timey in a piece last Friday with the headline “Bikes are OK, but Denver plan goes too far.” The article was behind a pay wall for subscribers, but there are some excerpts below that give readers the gist. Westergaard frames the city’s efforts to improve conditions for bicycling as a … Continued
May 18, 2015
Mary Beth Susman Gets It: Denver Needs More Livable Streets
Before Mayor Michael Hancock and Denver City Council members made transit infrastructure a top budget priority for 2016, Council Member Mary Beth Susman was on a mission to bridge the gaps in the city’s Swiss cheese transit system. The 67-year-old made the case for better bus service in the Denver Post editorial pages last year, then got scolded … Continued
May 15, 2015
Widening Streets Near the Broadway and I-25 Transit Station Makes No Sense
At the same time that Denver seeks to become more walkable and transit-friendly, the city is pursuing road-widening projects that work directly against those goals. Sometimes the city even tries to do both things in the same place, and that’s what happening on South Broadway right now. In 2008, Denver adopted a Strategic Transportation Plan beginning with this … Continued
May 11, 2015
Tomorrow: Help Shape Development By the I-25 and Broadway Station
How can South Broadway build on the I-25 and Broadway rail station to make a more walkable, active neighborhood? City planners are in the process of creating a plan that will shape the streets and development near the station, and they’re looking for ideas. If you want to weigh in on the neighborhood’s future, head over to … Continued
May 8, 2015
I-70 Widening Has Already Diverted $50M From Smarter Transpo Projects
Whether it’s the marginalization of Globeville, Elyria, and Swansea residents, the stark threat of respiratory illness, or the simple fact that widening roads does not solve traffic congestion, the I-70 expansion planned between Brighton Boulevard and Tower Road is a terrible idea. Still, the highway project with a $1.8 billion starting price tag has a … Continued
May 7, 2015
Why Denver Needs to Get Serious About Street Safety and Adopt Vision Zero
Traffic deaths are not an inevitable fixture of modern life, but preventable tragedies that can be systematically eliminated by smart public policy. That’s the thinking behind Vision Zero, an increasingly influential approach to street safety in cities around the world. Now is the ideal time for Denver’s leaders to join in. Vision Zero has its origins in Sweden, where … Continued
May 4, 2015