DENVER — Neighbors in the Sloan’s Lake area felt blindsided this week when they came home to find new “No Parking” signs in front of their homes along 23rd Avenue.
“It’s such a hardship for all of us. And from groceries to lugging the kids up to getting the dogs out, we really don’t know what we’re going to do,” said resident Ashton White. “I think their plan is excessive, and then not notifying us about it. It’s a bummer.”
White says the signs were his first notice that his street was about to be dramatically changed as part of the city’s neighborhood bikeways project.
White and his neighbors live in rowhouses on 23rd Avenue, which do not have garages or alleys for other parking options. Even nearby intersecting streets like Julian and Irving are almost always full with cars from residents on those streets, he said.
“It eliminated like six parking spaces [on each side], and the tough part is we don’t have any garage spaces. We don’t have any alley access,” White said. “Like, where the heck are we supposed to park?”
According to the city’s Denver Moves website, neighborhood bikeways are created to “prioritize people who are biking, walking, and rolling” by reducing the speed and volume of cars.
One webpage shows median islands along the middle of 23rd Avenue on either side of the intersection with Julian Street. It describes the “N Julian Street: Neighborhood Bikeway” project as “proposed,” but also shows that public comment ended in May 2021. Denver7 reached out to the city for clarification on the status of the project, but has not yet received specifics.
The new signs appear to mark the beginning of construction on the street, which would bring pedestrian refuge islands, stop bars and two-stage turn queue boxes for bicyclists to the street.
“With all our projects, our goal is to focus on safety and mobility while trying to balance the needs within our Denver communities,” Denver spokesperson Vanessa Lacayo said. “We appreciate the feedback on this project, and all projects.”
White says he and most of his neighbors regularly ride bikes, and use the bike lanes already in place along 23rd Avenue. He hopes city leaders can adjust the plan to still leave parking spaces by his home.
