If the sidewalk adjacent to Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) building is any indication, the city’s pedestrians are in dire straits.
“Our infrastructure for sidewalks in Denver is not acceptable and leads to some pedestrian issues and traffic fatalities because people don’t have the means to walk safely around the city,” said Adrienne Razavi, the organizing manager at the Denver Streets Partnership.
Currently, Denver’s citizens and businesses are responsible for the bulk of sidewalk repairs and upkeep. The Denver Streets Partnership, a nonprofit coalition based in downtown Denver, is trying to shift the onus onto city government and make Denver’s streets more people-friendly.
The Denver Streets Partnership has introduced a ballot measure, Denver Deserves Sidewalks, that would raise around $40 million dollars for Denver’s sidewalks (10 times more than the current funds for city sidewalks). This measure would include an annual fee for property owners, which would be calculated based on how much of their property faces a street.
One of the Denver Streets Partnership’s coalition partners, Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition (CCDC) has been collaborating with the city of Denver to install curb ramps on repaired and newly constructed sidewalks since 2016, with the City of Denver providing weekly updates.
“The CCDC are key in making decision making about what the Denver Streets Partnership does.” Razavi said. “And also just giving us feedback about how we can work together to make sure that Denver’s accessible for the disabled.”
The City of Denver has determined that it will cost $1.4 billion to repair and expand the city’s sidewalks. Government entities like the Denver branch of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) are responsible for pedestrian safety and accessible design, with organizations like the Denver Streets Partnership filling in the cracks.
In a nationwide 2018 telephone and online poll by the University of Chicago, 42% of respondents said that sidewalks that are in good condition, safe for pedestrians, and accessible for wheelchair users are extremely important. Another 35% of respondents said this issue was very important, while 2% of respondents said this was not important.
This poll also reflects growing global concerns about pedestrian access, particularly for people with disabilities. A 2016 Canadian poll from the Angus Reid Institute on the level of access that should be provided for people with physical disabilities found that 58% of respondents said that universal accessibility should be the standard whenever possible.
“Denver’s sidewalks can be too narrow,” said Sam Cole, CDOT’s Communication Manager for Traffic Safety. “People with wheelchairs need wider lanes. We especially need to focus in on sidewalks around Denver’s Hospitals.”
According to the City of Denver, with this level of funding it would take 400 years to build, widen, and fix all of the sidewalks, and at least 50 years just to repair Denver’s sidewalks. With the city only required to make sidewalks ADA accessible when they are replaced or repaired, wheelchair users are often left in the dust.
“Even sidewalks are essential when I’m skateboarding. I’ve broken a phone because of how badly paved Denver sidewalks are. You need to be constantly vigilant of cracks. Otherwise you’ll fall and injure yourself,” Daniel Stone, a second-year DU student said.
In addition to subpar sidewalks, Denver is seeing a rise in pedestrian deaths, even after the city’s 2016 commitment to Vision Zero, with a goal of zero traffic deaths or serious injuries by 2030. 5% of Denver’s streets accounted for around 50% of the city’s traffic fatalities between 2011 and 2015, dubbed the “high-injury network”.
Federal Boulevard, Colfax Avenue, Colorado Boulevard, Broadway and Denver’s other ‘arterial’ streets are still deadly sites for pedestrians.
“I mean, this is a lot of people. And it happens all the time. And so it’s pretty shocking when you think about trying to get to where you’re going,” Razavi said.
Denver’s disabled community is asking drivers to be more aware of disabled pedestrians as traffic deaths rise. In September of 2020, Tim Campbell was killed while wheeling across the street to reach his RTD stop.
In early May, the Denver Streets Partnership posted 84 signs in total at each Denver intersection where someone lost their life in a traffic accident in 2021, hoping to convince the city to improve pedestrian safety.
Cole believes that Denver’s pedestrian safety issues can be solved with a tried and true method.
“Engineering, enforcement, and education. That’s the secret in the sauce,” Cole said.
According to Cole, this trifecta was used to approach DUIs in the 1980s and to increase seatbelt use. CDOT has employed this framework in its recent collaboration with the Denver Streets Partnership; this early 2022 project was meant to encourage people to be cognizant of pedestrians during low visibility hours, using neon outlines of pedestrians as reminders.
One Denver-based activist, Jonathan Stalls, has created a viral TikTok account called @pedestriandignity, in which Stalls advocates for a more easily walkable Denver with enjoyable, accessible sidewalks.
In March of 2022, Stalls and a group of wheelchair users traversed Alameda Avenue on a treacherous snow day, accompanied by CDOT and DOTI officials. During the walk, CDOT’s Denver Region Director, Jessica Myklebust, compared revamping Denver’s pedestrian safety and transportation infrastructure to “turning the Titanic”.
With growing calls for protecting pedestrians, the Denver’s Mayor Michael B. Hancock has established a taskforce and citywide plan for sidewalk, street crossings, and trail improvements called Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails.
At times, the different government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and councils appear to be very disconnected; each unit is a small piece of the pedestrian safety puzzle, and each group requires more funding to create meaningful change.
“Cities are meant to be walked,” said Stone. “We shouldn’t have to beg for an accessible city.”
MFJS Reporter Spring 2022 