9/28/2023 0 Comments Denver traffic speeds![]() When it comes to speed limits, Trang says he doesn’t see that as the most pressing concern. “You’re always dodging something,” he says. Trang D., an Englewood resident who has been commuting on his bike to Denver’s uptown neighborhood for four years, says he prefers riding in residential streets to bike lanes, because unprotected bike lanes, the kind painted on the street but without plastic buffers, don’t provide enough protection from cars and are often blocked by construction, landscaping crews, and vehicles doing deliveries. The cyclist, Andrew “Bernie” Bernstein is currently recovering at an area hospital. And in late July, a similar occurrence severely injured a man in Boulder. Over the weekend, a cyclist was killed by a driver in a hit-and-run in Arvada. Traffic-related incidents are occurring throughout the metro area, as well. A very fair criticism right now among the mobility community is that the work has not been hitting the streets fast enough.” She says she expects 2020 to be a big year for implementation of the plan. Van Heuven calls the city’s plan “excellent” and in-line with the changes she hopes to see, but adds that “a major disconnect people are seeing is that the plans are there, we’re told that the work is in progress, but we just haven’t seen enough of it on the streets yet. “That’s the kind of infrastructure street safety activists are pushing for,” Bosselman says. The city’s “Vision Zero” plan to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030 features several infrastructure changes, including relatively simple fixes that don’t require much construction, such as curb extensions at pedestrian crosswalks to decrease the amount of time it takes to cross the street and slow traffic at intersections. Piep van Heuven, chair of the Denver Streets Partnership and policy director of Bicycle Colorado, a local nonprofit advocacy group, says lowering speed limits is “definitely very important” but must be accompanied by two other factors: increased speed enforcement and significant infrastructure changes- “really redesigning the streets so they are, in fact, safer”-in order to be effective. “The number one factor in severe and fatal crashes in Denver is speed,” reads the statement. Lowering speed limits is the first suggestion on the list of six, which also includes banning right turns on red and eliminating the buttons pedestrians have to push to get a walk signal, in favor of automatic pedestrian signals. Last week the Denver Streets Partnership, a coalition that advocates for “people-friendly streets,” delivered a list of suggested quick policy changes to city officials. He made a right turn and failed to yield to Bounds, who had the right-of-way. As Streetsblog reported, the driver who killed 37-year-old cyclist Alexis Bounds last week was going just 20 mph. ![]() ![]() “Lowering speed limits is important and it’s something that street safety advocates push for,” says Andy Bosselman, editor of Streetsblog Denver (and freelance 5280 contributor). If the car is going 30 mph, the likelihood of death or severe injury for the victim goes down to 40 percent. A 2011 report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that if a car strikes a bicyclist or pedestrian going 40 mph, there is a 73 percent chance the victim will die or be severely injured. There are facts to back up this kind of policy: People are simply less likely to die when struck by a car if the car is going slower rather than faster. The city lowering speed limits is no doubt a victory for street-safety advocates. That's only $1 per issue! Subscribe Today » ![]()
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