Public input needed to redesign 2 Denver traffic corridors

DENVER — Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) is looking for the public’s feedback to improve two corridors along 17th and 18th Avenues between Broadway and Colorado Boulevard.

“These are the streets where most fatal and serious injury crashes are happening,” said Nancy Kuhn with DOTI. “We want to address that issue. We’re going out to the public with our ideas, and you can take a look at what we’re proposing and provide some comment.”

The corridors are a well-traveled area between drivers, pedestrians and those who take public transit. It’s also an easy access to Downtown.

Speed and crashes have been a problem along the two corridors. According to Kuhn, the posted speed limit is 30 MPH along the corridors, but 15% of drivers are traveling more than 5 MPH over the limit.

In the last 5 years there’s been:

• 1,188 total crashes on East 17th and East 18th Avenues
• 38 crashes involving a pedestrian
• 26 involving a bicyclist
• 19 crashes resulting in severe injuries and one fatal crash (majority of these serious crashes involved pedestrians)

“Some of the ideas we have is to improve safety for people crossing both corridors on foot. Some of the things we can do is put paint and post on the corners, this will reduce the crossing distance for people who are walking and crossing, and it also visually and physically narrows the roadway a little bit to slow drivers down,” Kuhn said.

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The city wants to install treatments to improve pedestrian safety, decrease travel time, and increase reliability for RTD Route 20. The recommended improvements would include better visibility for pedestrians and cyclists, lane shifts to encourage drivers to slow down. As well as a curb extension at bus stops that would allow buses to pick and drop off riders without pulling in and out traffic.

For those interested in giving feedback on the design process you have until June 1st.

RELATED: Colorado sees increase in pedestrian deaths in 2023

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