safety

The City and County of Denver doesn’t have a dedicated funding stream for building and maintaining sidewalks, but WalkScope, a crowdsourcing tool that maps and rates Denver’s walking infrastructure, could be the springboard the city needs to change that. WalkScope allows anyone with access to a smart phone or computer to map the quality of … Continued

Mayor Michael Hancock told members of the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee yesterday that it’s just a matter of time before the city adopts a Vision Zero strategy to eliminate traffic deaths. But the mayor said the city needs to be better prepared before taking on the goal of zero deaths on Denver’s streets. Here’s how Mayor Hancock responded when Streetsblog Denver asked … Continued

The Department of Public Works installed bike detection cameras and accompanying signs at seven intersections today. The devices will detect riders as they arrive at traffic lights and signal the need for a green light. The sensors should keep bikers from having to shimmy to the sidewalk to press the crosswalk button, or rely on cars to trip … Continued

When it comes to improving traffic safety, the Denver Regional Council of Governments is following the lead of the Colorado Department of Transportation and setting the bar low. DRCOG, the regional planning organization responsible for doling out federal transportation funding, is working on Metro Vision 2040, a draft document meant to guide regional planning for the next 25 … Continued

The Denver Post ran a commentary today by Aaron Schwartz, recounting a regular day gone wrong: A car crash injured his son and pregnant wife, who were walking near East Alameda Avenue and South Monaco Parkway. It’s a moving story that should impel change, but the culprit is not, as the headline suggests, “high density.” Here is Schwartz’s diagnosis: Denver … Continued

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

Colorado Public Radio aired an enlightened story this morning that’s worth a listen (or read) for its treatment of the bicycle-versus-car narrative that permeates the Denver transportation discussion. Reporter Nathaniel Minor interviewed CU Denver Civil Engineer Professor Wesley Marshall, who is researching why people on bikes sometimes break traffic laws. Here’s a snippet: “Not all … Continued

Pay raises for Colorado legislators, electronic traffic enforcement and student testing dominated state politics in the last session, overshadowing the casualty of a longstanding and successful program: Safe Routes to School. Some state funding remains for the 2015-2016 school year, but none for Denver. And after next year, no Colorado schools will have Safe Routes … Continued

The Colorado Department of Transportation unveiled the conclusion to a provocative billboard campaign yesterday that reminds drivers and passengers to buckle up. You may have seen the ads around Denver over the last week with inscrutable phrases like “Brain Damage,” “Life or Death,” “Fatal Accident,” and “Windshield Ejection.” Those words are now crossed out with an image of a … Continued