Driving You Crazy: Can you explain the far right lane on 8th Ave. in Denver from Congress Park to Corona St.?

DENVER — David from Golden writes, “What's driving you crazy? Can you explain the far right lane on 8th Ave in Denver from approximately Detroit St to Corona St. The signs alternately describe it as a diamond "Restricted Lane" or "Traffic Lane." If it is a diamond carpool lane, what are the restrictions? If it a normal traffic lane, why is there a diamond?”

These days, the diamond designation is more familiar with express lanes, but in this case David, the diamond does not represent a carpool lane. That lane is one of only a few places in Denver that allows it to be a general purpose travel lane for all commuters during the day, and a parking lane overnight. The City of Denver describes the lane as providing a flexible option that keeps travel moving during the day and offers parking during hours when demand for through-traffic is lower.

The restricted lane begins at the southeast corner of Congress Park just after Detroit Street indicated by the "Restricted Lane Ahead" sign. The daytime parking restriction runs west from Congress Park to Corona Street where the lane turns into a third general purpose lane and street parking is neither available nor permitted.

One confusing part about how the restricted lane is set up is that the first large sign posted explaining how the lane works is at York Street, five blocks away from the start of the restriction. I asked Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) why there isn't a sign at the start of the lane. I was told that could change in the coming years.

“We have some newer restricted lane signage that we are using on S. Lincoln Street that does not include the diamond,” Cyndi Karvaski with DOTI said. “We will likely update the E. 8th Avenue signage to match that newer look, but I don’t have a timeline for these changes and sign placement would also be reviewed, at that time.”

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The way the lane works is it is a general traffic lane for all drivers regardless of number of people in the vehicle Monday through Friday, between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. The lane becomes a parking lane all other times, including holidays. There is a similar lane along northbound Lincoln Street north of Interstate 25 up to 6^th Ave. where the left lane is a travel lane between 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and a parking lane all other times, holidays excepted.

What drivers have to be paying attention to along both roadways is at 6 or 7 p.m, when drivers who still think the restricted lane gets behind someone who can legally park in that lane. I looked though crash data from Denver police to see if the lane on 8^th Ave. had any history of problems. I counted 23 rear-end crashes that happened over the past 10 years along 8^th Ave. in that stretch. There were a handful of side-to-side crashes over that time along that same area.

DOTI told me there's no immediate or long-term plans to change how this lane operates.

“No changes planned for the lane itself in terms of its flexible nature, accommodating through-travel and parking at different times of day,” DOTI said.

Denver7 Traffic Expert Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 25 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or listen to his award winning Driving You Crazy podcast on any podcast app including iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Podbean, or YouTube.