DENVER — What began as years of public meetings and community-backed designs for one of Denver’s busiest and most dangerous corridors has boiled over into protest.
On Thursday, residents led by the West Wash Park Neighborhood Association gathered along Alameda Avenue to demand the city restore the original “Alameda Lane Repurposing Project” plan — a plan neighbors say would have delivered crucial safety improvements.
“The city should be ashamed of themselves,” said West Wash Park resident Jaime Livaditis, who has seen cars crash into her property three times. “To me, it doesn’t feel like Denver. It doesn’t feel like a place where the community matters and our voice matters.”
The controversy stems from a change Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) made in November — months after more than 300 people signed a petition against the original design, delivered a by Wash Park resident with a recognizable last name — Jill Anschutz.
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Amy Kenreich, a neighborhood advocate and resident of Wash Park, said the initial plan had overwhelming community support for traffic calming measures.
“The original plan was completely community vetted, and public meetings were held,” Kenreich said. “Lots of feedback was gathered from the community, and there was overwhelming support from this community for traffic calming and the original design on Alameda Avenue. We never dreamed that they would downgrade this project.”
Kenreich said neighbors only launched their own petition — which now carries more than 1,000 signatures — after DOTI announced it would “downgrade safety elements” they had fought for.
“The revised plan can move drivers through the area 60 seconds quicker than the original plan,” Kenreich said. “That contradicts, in my opinion, the goals of the project to begin with, which were traffic calming.”
Residents argue DOTI’s revision removed key safety features, postponed and altered the timeline without clear explanation, and stripped safety analysis from the earlier design.
- Denver7 reported on those revisions by DOTI and you can watch that in the video player below.
West Wash Park residents push for changes to Alameda Avenue
“There is absolutely no doubt that the new plan does not protect the people who live, the people catching buses here, the way that the original plan did,” Livaditis said. Two years ago, her daughter was hit by a car while walking home from school. “Someone needs to take a stand,” she added. “And I think it needs to be Mayor Johnston to stand up and say, ‘Wait a second. This is not Denver. This is not how we do things.’”
Others say the changes reflect a lack of transparency and the influence of wealthy interests.
“How can we go about abandoning a safer plan for the convenience of a wealthy few? I don’t understand that at all,” said Wash Park resident Tatianna Spector, who lives near Steele Elementary. “Our neighborhood gave feedback, and it’s like that’s completely thrown out the window, because, again, the wealthiest family in Colorado — no one really wants to go up against them.”
DOTI, however, says it is still listening to the community.
“DOTI is in the business of listening to community. That’s what we do. It’s what we strive to do,” said spokesperson Molly Lanphier. “We have looked at the petition. We don’t feel at this time the petition is telling us any new information.”
Lanphier said the department analyzed data that prompted the redesign and will return to residents before the plan is finalized. “We are definitely keeping [pedestrian safety concerns] top of mind to see if there’s anything we can do,” she said.
DOTI went on to say they will return to the community for input, adding that the current plan is not yet finalized but, it is the version they are moving forward with.
In a statement, Anschutz emphasized her petition reflected broader neighborhood concerns. “While my name might stand out, this is not about me – it’s about hundreds of neighbors and businesses who are concerned about negative unintended consequences from the initial design of the Alameda Lanes Repurposing Project,” she said.
For now, neighbors say they will continue to collect signatures and send their petition to Mayor Johnston.
On Thursday evening, the West Wash Park Neighborhood Association sent it's petition to Mayor Johnston. They are awaiting a reply.
“People living here saying, ‘Wait a second. We support the original plan, and we need to go back to it," said Livaditis.
