DENVER — Neighbors are continuing to push back on a last-minute change to the city’s plan for Alameda Avenue, a four-lane corridor known for heavy traffic and safety problems.
Thursday morning, the West Washington Park Neighborhood Association (WWPNA) will host a press conference to express concerns and push Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) to restore the original plan that was decided after years of community input.
“For the city to take five years of planning and throw that down the drain for one petition after the process was over, it's just, it just isn't right. And so, we want to hold the city accountable,” Christina Noto, a board member with the WWPNA, said.
The WWPNA said the changes came after hundreds signed a petition led by Jill Anschutz which argued that reducing lanes would add more congestion and hurt neighborhoods.
“We believe that changing the plan after it was a done deal without any community input or feedback is unfair and undemocratic,” Noto said.
The group claims DOTI removed key safety features, lied about reasons for delays and changes and removed the safety analysis from the design.
Denver7 did reach out to DOTI about these concerns, they sent us a statement that reads:
“There are people in our community both for and against our current plans to repurpose one vehicle travel lane on Alameda Avenue westbound from approximately Pearl St. to Humboldt St. to create dedicated left turn pockets along this stretch. DOTI is moving forward in developing revised design plans that will improve safety on the corridor with treatments that address the types of crashes we are seeing (primarily left turn and rear end crashes), and we believe this design will be effective in reducing crashes within the range the FHWA estimates we can expect for road diets. We believe the direction we are headed will also increase safety for pedestrians and people on bikes by continuing the crossing improvements we’ve planned, and by reducing the potential for eastbound vehicle congestion and diversion to the side streets south of Alameda where we are building out our bikeway network. We’ve also added to the project safety measures that further protect pedestrians and cyclists along Virginia Ave. Any assertions of lying or failing to consider crash data in our decision are inaccurate.”
The press conference is schedule for 11 a.m. Thursday and the WWPNA plans to present a new petition with the hopes of DOTI restoring the original plan.
“The goal of the press conference is to talk about our petition and then talk about and ask the city to give us the same consideration that they gave the other petition, as well as talk about concerns related to safety of the new plan,” Noto explained.
Noto said the press conference will have several speakers, including a mother who will share her experience about her daughter getting hit along Alameda.
Recent data shows between 15,000 and 20,000 vehicles drive this stretch of Alameda each day. The stretch between Franklin and Lincoln Streets averaged 55 crashes per year from 2021 to 2024, according to DOTI.
The original plan would reduce the four-lane road to two lanes with a dedicated center turn lane, also adding a pedestrian buffer.
The new plan, which was announced within the last couple of months, would keep two eastbound lanes and change one westbound lane to a series of “turn pockets” between Franklin and Pearl Streets.
