DENVER — One-way streets in downtown Denver could eventually be a thing of the past.
As part of the Downtown Area Plan, a 20-year vision for the district, city leaders are hoping to change the direction of the city's one-way streets.
Currently, the core of downtown is mostly made up of one-way streets.
“The transportation, mobility piece of that is always a really important part of that conversation. And so how people are accessing downtown, how people are moving through, through our central area, central neighborhood district is key to that conversation,” said Andrew Iltis, senior vice president of planning and community impact for Downtown Denver Partnership.
“It's one of the things that makes pedicab driving in the city so difficult, is making sure you know which way is the one-way, which way isn't the one-way,” said pedicab driver Carlton Eide.
Eide has been transporting people through downtown Denver’s streets for 11 years and thinks the change would be beneficial.
“I think that it would make our job a little bit easier, being able to quickly navigate through downtown corridors,” he said.
The goal is to improve the urban grid downtown, which means that streets such as Blake, Larimer, and Arapahoe could eventually become two-way streets.
“We have so many people walking, maybe it’s their first time coming downtown or they haven't been down here for a while. They're just used to a completely different kind of context. And as they're walking around, we don't want them to have to be worried about their safety as they're crossing the street,” said Iltis.
With 17.2 million fewer downtown visits since 2017, city leaders hope improving mobility will entice more folks to spend time in the heart of Denver while boosting local business.
“Being down here is just, it just feels like very crazy,” said Alfredo Zapata, in Denver visiting from Fort Lupton. “The one-ways, there's a lot of them, so it makes it hard to navigate.”
It's why the Downtown Denver Partnership says this could happen in the next three to five years.
“This conversation around two-way streets has been active for such a long time. We really feel like this is a priority,” said Iltis.
And kicking downtown Denver into high gear.
“I think it just makes the city more mobile, and it would make everybody happier,” said Eide.
As the city moves into finalizing its downtown area plan, they want your help.
If you live, work, or play in downtown Denver, you're asked to take a surveyabout what you'd most like to see.
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