East Avenues Safety Study

The Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) conducted a safety study of East 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Avenues between Broadway and Yosemite Street. This study analyzed crash data over a five-year period (2018-2022), user volumes (vehicles/pedestrians/bicyclists), traffic speed data, and community input to develop recommendations for reducing crashes and improving safety on these streets.

Not only have residents and neighborhood groups communicated their safety concerns about these streets to DOTI, but Denver's Vision Zero Action Plan also identifies several segments of these streets as Tier 1 or Tier 2 High Injury Network Corridors. The city studied these corridors to identify recommendations for safety improvements alongside the design of East Colfax Ave. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

The geographic scope of the study area is East 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Avenues from Broadway to Yosemite Street (18th Avenue only from Broadway to York and Josephine Streets). The study focuses on the east-west avenues and their intersections with north-south streets but not mid-block segments of the north-south streets.

Part of 17th and 18th Avenues are being addressed in a 17th and 18th Avenues Bus Priority and Vision Zero Project. More details can be found on the project site.

Study of East Colfax Avenue itself has already been completed as a part of the Bus Rapid Transit design and can be found on the East Colfax BRT project website.

Community member input was collected via map comments, survey responses, and neighborhood meetings that reinforced the concerns that were noticed in the crash history and speed data.

DOTI circulated a Web map and online survey from January 17, 2024 until July 16, 2024 through East Colfax Avenue BRT public meetings, email channels, and Registered Neighborhood Organization meetings. The online survey received 487 responses from 425 participants. Based on crash history, data collection, and community member input, the six primary safety concerns are:

• Broadside crashes at signalized intersections,
• Broadside crashes at unsignalized intersections,
• Crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists,
• High speeds,
• Overtaking turn crashes, and
• Wrong-way (head-on) crashes

This study aims to identify mitigations both pre-existing safety concerns on these streets as well as for potential diversion effects resulting from the East Colfax Avenue BRT service, once in operation.

Traffic data shows that vehicle speeds on Colfax and along parallel streets (13th, 14th, 17th and 18th) occurs today and will continue with or without the BRT project. Investing in East Colfax Avenue BRT allows us to better manage existing challenges and meet future demands by: 

• Creating the capacity to move people more efficiently through the same amount of space. By 2040, the BRT will save bus riders up to 30 minutes of travel time when traveling from Broadway to Yosemite. People community the average trip length of three miles by bus will experience up to 10 minutes of travel time savings. Meanwhile, travel times for people driving on Colfax and parallel streets will increase by three minutes on average.

• Facilitating a shift from vehicles to transit for increased safety, speed, reliability, convenience and environmental benefits. The project's reduction in bus travel times is a significant contributor to the expected bus ridership increase of 24% to 31%. This means that the BRT's weekday transit ridership will exceed 32,000 riders per day by 2040, up from 24,450 in 2019. This will result in 35,000 fewer Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) per day along Colfax and a reduction of 31,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per day.

Visit the East Colfax BRT website to find out more about the benefits of the project.

This study only focused on mitigations that are within DOTI's purview, known as engineering solutions. The 3 E's (engineering, enforcement and education) are a foundational framework of travel safety used to create safer streets and reduce crashes.

Engineering focuses on the design and physical infrastructure of roadways to promote safe behavior. Once implemented, DOTI will work closely with Denver Police Department to ensure a multi-prong approach to curtain high speeds along the corridor.

During the pandemic, traffic volumes declined significantly on nearly all streets. As a result, DOTI has been cautious about using data collected during that period. Instead, we relied on data gathered as close as possible to the start of the pandemic, operating under the assumption that traffic volumes and patterns would eventually return to pre-pandemic norms. While crashes were generally less frequent due to reduced travel, the number of severe crashes increased at a broad level. It's very difficult to extrapolate these broad behavioral patterns to specific locations in an predictive manner.

As the study recommendations move toward implementation, DOTI will work with the Fire and Police Departments to ensure emergency vehicles can continue to use efficient and reliable routes to reach people quickly and safely. However, all of the recommendations made have been approved by the Fire and Police Departments in other projects.

DOTI has incorporated speed cushions into its traffic calming strategies to enhance street safety. These measures are part of Denver's Vision Zero Action Plan, aiming to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 2030.

In recent years, DOTI has initiated pilot projects to assess the effectiveness of speed cushions on designated neighborhood bikeways. These installations aim to reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

While these measures have been implemented in specific projects, a comprehensive citywide policy on speed cushions is still evolving. Speed cushions are included as a recommendation in the East Avenues Safety Study.

Signals on the study streets are already coordinated. Appropriately timing the offset between traffic signals for the lower target operating speed can reduce instances of speeding where close spacing of traffic signals exists; however, the effect of this strategy is limited where traffic signals are located farther apart east of Colorado Boulevard. Implementing this countermeasure would have a small effect on reducing corridor travel speeds, compared to some of the other suggestions in the study.

DOTI is currently developing a tool lit of policy and enforcement strategies that improve corridors associated with serious and fatal crashes. This could include application of speed cameras, and other technology to improve risky driver behavior. The policy has not been fully developed.

Converting one-way streets to two-way is a strategy often used in transportation planning, and it typically reflects broader goals related to safety, access, and livability. Here are the main reasons Denver pursues these conversions:

• Reduces speeding: One-way streets often encourage faster driving since there's no opposing traffic. Two-way streets tend to slow vehicles down, which can lead to fewer and less severe crashes.

• Better visibility: Drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists can better anticipate traffic patterns when movement happens in both directions.

• Easier navigation: Two-way streets improve direct access to homes, businesses, and services. One-way systems can be confusing or circuitous, especially for visitors.

Denver has implemented several projects to convert one-way streets to two-way traffic to enhance safety, accessibility, and neighborhood connectivity. Here are some notable examples:

• Walnut Street Conversion: In 2020, Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) converted Walnut Street between Broadway and Downing Street from one-way to two-way traffic. This change aimed to calm traffic and improve circulation in the River North (RiNo) neighborhood.

• 19th and 20th Avenues Conversion: In 2017, sections of 19th and 20th Avenues, along with Grant and Logan Streets, were converted to two-way traffic. This project aimed to reflect the area's development and improve multimodal travel integration.

Of course, conversions aren't always straightforward—they require detailed traffic studies, signal upgrades, and coordination with local stakeholders. But when done well, they can significantly improve how a street works for everyone.

Yes, DOTI utilized the Complete Streets Design Guidelines when making decisions about installing traffic calming measures such as bulb-outs, crosswalks, and chicanes. These guidelines provide a framework for designing streets that accommodate all users safely and comfortably.

For more detailed information on these guidelines, you can refer to the Complete Streets Design Guidelines.

While the study did call out specific locations for improvement, DOTI will have to balance available funding, feasibility assessments and current data to further determine which locations will be addressed first.

Please continue to report immediate concerns to 311.

In total, recommended countermeasures at priority locations will cost between $960,000 and $1.2 million. Because current funding within the City's budget is limited to implement the recommendations of the study, DOTI is committed to prioritizing interventions that are proven to be effective, while also balancing available resources and community desires. The first phase of safety improvements will include some of the low-cost treatments and will be constructed outside of the East Colfax Avenue BRT project, but within the same construction timeframe. The second phase will involve higher cost treatments for which additional funding needs to be identified. Finally, this study recommends feasibility assessment of other countermeasures to address remaining uncertainties. Implementation of these countermeasures is contingent on these findings.

The study's recommendations take into account the construction of East Colfax Avenue BRT, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2027. This study aims to mitigate both pre-existing safety concerns on these streets as well as potential diversion effects resulting from East Colfax Avenue BRT. Near-term solutions should be able to take place before 2027, but longer term solutions will have to wait to assess feasibility until after BRT construction is complete, so we can be sure traffic patterns have returned to a "new normal."