OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Denver City Council Transportation Committee Meeting on Vision Zero and Safe Routes to School - March 13, 2026

City CouncilFriday, March 13, 2026
BodyDenver, Colorado
SessionCity Council
DateFriday, March 13, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Yeah, I just see some incongruency there.

0:04

Um I do worry.

0:06

I did the celebrity cross guard at Valverde two years ago, and a lot of the people are walking and finding their way across, but um it is still very scary for them, and so I don't know how that them doing that makes them safer, um, I guess is where I'm confused, and so uh it seems like there's a more need for infrastructure than necessarily mode shift that and I don't know what the strategy is to get the mode shift.

0:34

There's also ways that you can think about encouraging and educating and thinking about um alternative modes of training.

0:40

So carpool is always an option.

0:42

Um I like to think about the concept of park a grade away.

0:45

So as child, you know, if you must drive to school, um, you can park one block away for your first grade or two blocks away for your second, and so on and so forth.

0:54

That'll be your kind of um decoupling some of the um challenges that occur when you know you have a hundred families all trying to access one parcel of land um at a 15 minute window, both in the morning and the afternoon.

1:08

Um, there are ways that you can kind of disperse some of that tension that we can think about that don't always necessarily mean that uh you have to travel across to you know major roadway or high injury network roadway or core far co-core focus of the SIF routes to schools program is infrastructure safety so that you can facilitate people walking and biking as well as driving to the schools, so it's safe movement management and much of what which much of what John was talking about were those improvements on how we do that lights, sidewalks, crossings, etc.

1:41

And um, and then education.

1:43

Okay, that's helpful to know.

1:45

Um if speed seems to be such a problem, why are we not aggressively lowering speeds on the high injury corridors?

1:56

So we've got a combination of things, and we're all feel free to to to add into this.

2:00

So uh we are in in many, so as you know, citywide we've lowered speed limits uh to 20 on all neighborhood streets, other than those what we call collectors or arterials.

2:11

Those collectors and arterials we also collaborate with in many cases, as you're aware, they are also state highways, and so we collaborate with our partners at CDOT and others, you know, and how we can make requests to think about how we lower down speed limits.

2:25

You have speed limits in a space that is about safe speeds and the travel of safe speeds.

2:29

As you know, we do speed studies on what is the average speed in those corridors and then how you appropriately set the speeds there, and then how you monitor and let people know when they are speeding, which is why you have reflective speed signs and others.

2:41

And so uh those are things that we are exploring, and uh, I don't know if we have instances of HI high injury networks where we actually uh Alameda is an upcoming example where we will be lowering the speed limit along Alameda in our favorite area where we've been talking about for the last you know few months.

2:57

Um so that speed will be coming down in that particular corridor.

3:01

And um and actually uh you probably could list some others where we've been doing it.

3:05

We have a few others that we can provide you that list, and particularly we're very much interested in those excessive speeders doing 10 or more mile an hour over the posted speed limit and bringing those down.

3:17

Um but yeah, we can get you a uh a list of I might add just real quickly on this question of automated speed cameras, which is always this delicate balance of how we think about it and the impacts of community and where we go and what it is in a crash reduction factor.

3:31

And it as you know the state carefully crafted legislation to allow it.

3:34

Um it is for excessive speeders, so it's basically 11 and over for those excessive speeders.

3:40

Um you have these proven crash reduction factors when it comes to speed, and there's a pretty significant factor of you know upwards of 45 to 50 percent.

3:48

You see some dramatic impact in cities and others.

3:51

We've been following San Francisco's recently as they've been just implementing theirs.

3:55

You're seeing speed reductions in these corridors by upwards of 70 percent.

3:59

I mean, it's been very high.

4:01

Why do we care about speed?

4:02

I mean, you use the example of let's say a federal, and just happened we had a young man who was crossing on a uh on a scooter and crossed federal and was hit and killed.

4:11

Um similarly when uh with 38th and Tejon, um, speed was a factor potentially in both of those, and let's say that there is a mistake that is made and how people are traveling as we're as they go.

4:21

The speed does not allow you the chance to respond to a mistake.

4:27

And that that is why we care so much about speed, because it reduces the human factor for us to be able to respond to adapt to something that maybe is happening in the corridor that that we could otherwise prevent.

4:39

And that's why we care.

4:40

That's why we care as much as we do about speed, and um and that's why one of the reasons that we'll be focusing again on these automated speed cameras too, and we are seeing we just nationally and otherwise, we are seeing the effect of those and what it does to have people start caring about how they drive in the behavior and about how it cares for the people around.

4:58

I appreciate that.

5:00

Um my last question, and then I'll um hand it over to committee chair, is just I know you talked about researching fatal crashes.

5:08

I've asked for the reports on the fatal crashes in my district.

5:12

I've never gotten them or gotten briefed on them.

5:15

Is there a report at the end of this investigation?

5:18

And are there changes made?

5:19

And I think including us in that conversation would be very helpful.

5:24

Absolutely.

5:25

We could do that, and we can provide that report.

5:27

Um we can we can provide that report in that summary report.

5:31

We'll do that.

5:32

Just just awareness, it takes some time sometimes uh for us as we go through that process.

5:36

We absolutely can do that.

5:37

Yeah, I like how long because I've been asking for reports for years, and I don't know if they're not done yet.

5:43

Like, how long does it take to complete one of these?

5:48

Well, you're talking about the rap response.

5:50

Yes, report okay, yeah.

5:52

Um yeah, it sometimes it it depends if it is a hit and run, we're still waiting for our DPD is waiting for evidence, um, for example, and then we're dependent on their timeline and their analysis.

6:05

Um, and then we bring in kind of our experts and work with them on determining that.

6:10

But uh if I guess it sounds like you have been waiting for the 2023 when I was first elected was the first step in my district on Santa Fe in Mississippi, and I never got the right records on the way.

6:22

Let us work on that.

6:23

Don't get about that too.

6:24

We can we can absolutely do that.

6:27

Yeah, great major.

6:29

Thank you so much.

6:29

I really appreciate just a quick time check.

6:31

We have about 20 minutes.

6:32

We have Councilman Flynn.

6:34

Um Flynn in the queue, and then I have Councilman Cashman after.

6:39

Thank you, Madam Chair.

6:40

I'll be uh uh as concise as as I always am.

6:45

Uh thank you for mentioning speed, by the way, because lowering the speed limit doesn't result in lower traffic speeds.

6:53

In fact, sometimes raising speed limits lowers speeds.

6:57

Right.

6:58

You might remember this on on highways.

7:00

Uh because at T Rex that segmented through the tech center.

7:04

And on Sixth Avenue, when CDOT raised the speed limit on Sixth Avenue to 65, it literally lowered the average speed.

7:12

Because the lower speed limit was causing backups that people were speeding around, so you had excessive speeds.

7:18

It brought in the the margins.

7:20

So anyway, excuse me, on slide uh uh 28.

7:25

Uh uh data uh information requests, so you don't need to answer here because you probably don't have the answer here.

7:31

Uh I have been asking for consideration of crosswalk at some a couple locations and uh beacons at uh Sabin Elementary on Dartmouth.

7:40

Uh there's a mid-block traffic signal there, uh and there's a static signage on either end, school zone seven to nine, uh two to four, whatever it is.

7:52

Uh the parents there have been asking me for years, why don't we have the beacon?

7:59

Dartmouth is pretty major, I don't know if it's classified as an arterial or a collector.

8:04

It might just be a collector.

8:06

Uh but on Florida, and I think on Jewel, Johnson Elementary, uh Gust, I think Gust has one, and uh Force Elementary on Florida all have uh the the flashing beacons and the folks at Sabin would like to join the club.

8:22

So the could you could you find out, Elena, maybe if that's where is that is it like oh Flynn asked for you know Southwest Denver, we don't care.

8:32

We can we can have John go through that and I suspect uh and I don't mean this flippantly by any stretch.

8:37

I I anticipate that all council members have exactly what you just said.

8:42

They all ask for Saban Elementary.

8:44

There is a there is a school, a district, a location where they say where you all have said, I need a light here, I need a crossing here, and we need a such and such there.

8:52

And um and we take those as you know, put them into the pool, into the queue, analyze it, say yes, it could be a value, et cetera.

8:59

But we will absolutely follow the colour.

9:02

In my briefing, Elijah, I'm just trying to move along.

9:05

So at uh Dennison Montessori DPS charter at um Yates and Jewell.

9:15

Significant issue there is the offset of Yates between the Marley subdivision and Harvey Park.

9:22

But there is an opportunity to do kind of a weird crosswalk there.

9:25

Maybe weird crosswalk isn't a good thing to say, but uh for the kids who try the parents who try to walk their kids across Jewel there, uh there's an opportunity to do a kind of a different kind of crosswalk that would go from the uh I think it would go from the southwest corner of Yates and Jewel to the northeast corner, right?

9:46

Uh something responsive on Evans, there's a mid block cros uh mid block signal there on Evans uh that I've never really seen utilized.

9:56

But here where kids are trying to cross Jewel to get to the school that's right there.

10:00

So please let me know where that or that is.

10:02

And then maybe just generally tell us where the pedestrian crossings are that are in design, the 15 locations.

10:08

Maybe the one at uh Jewel and Yates is is one of them.

10:12

We will absolutely send you that breakdown list.

10:14

Two quick questions just to clarify for my my own edification, not for anyone else's.

10:20

On the uh slide 16, deeper dive where and why you've broken out the uh uh KSI events 24 and 25 by the type of roadway.

10:30

Tell me uh state highway, is that all state highways in Denver, or are some state highways in the arterial category?

10:40

Because Federal Boulevard is a state highway.

10:44

Uh you know, Wadsworth is a state highway, Sheridan in my district federal.

10:50

Uh so you want to state highway exclude all does that include all state designated highways like Colfax?

10:58

Uh to the best of my knowledge at this time, and I'll go back and triple check this for you, Councilman.

11:03

Um, it uh includes all state highways in the city and county of Denver, um, which I I I believe are functionally classified as arterials, but any one of those that is owned and maintained by CDOT.

11:15

Are our are our relations with C DOT uh friendly right now?

11:21

Yes.

11:22

Because I found them really hard to deal with on some issues.

11:24

It's signal.

11:25

I don't know how you can reset re-time a signal on a state highway as quickly as you say, because when we tried to change the uh protected and prohibited versus protected and permissive left signals at Yale and Sheridan, it took months because we they said, well, once we made one adjustment, we had to do another, and then we had to wait, and blah, blah, blah.

11:46

So I'm hoping that things are better.

11:48

It's good to hear that.

11:49

We're working on it.

11:50

And so we manage some of the signals like on federal, as an example.

11:54

You know people in the bandit.

11:56

Yeah.

11:56

Put my old C dot on.

11:58

Yeah.

11:58

Uh last question on slide 14.

12:00

In every year where it's fatalities by mode, I'm really curious about uh 2025 at the very top of it that says two other.

12:10

So we have people walking, people biking, motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, and then at the top, in 2025 only, there it is.

12:17

Thank you.

12:18

There's a category of two.

12:19

I'm wondering.

12:21

I don't see that in any other year.

12:22

What is do we know what that is?

12:24

I'll triple check for you, but I believe this involves two crash incidents that resulted in fatality.

12:30

One of them that occurred at Denver International Airport, involving uh load vehicles that were being operated by two different individuals, two different vehicles involved.

12:39

And I believe the other one is a crash incident that involves a person who is operating an ATV with a snowplow attachment on the front of it, tried to go up a curb cut and uh was um ejected from that vehicle.

12:55

I'm glad that that didn't happen in any other year.

12:57

Thank you.

12:58

That's one I'm sure.

12:59

Thank you.

12:59

Um just a reminder to keep it concise.

13:01

Uh Councilman uh Cashman, and then I have Council President Zandeval.

13:05

Thank you, uh Madam Chair.

13:07

Uh is your weird sidewalk just for weird people or um and so um one of your slides talked about 56 percent of the fatalities uh people are tested positive for at least one drug.

13:24

Um I'm guessing the vast majority of those were alcohol.

13:28

I I'd love to know that.

13:31

Okay.

13:32

Um you mentioned when you were talking about uh Wes Colfax work, uh, that what I read you said a new program uh would be evaluating these projects.

13:47

What do you mean a new program?

13:49

I would assume we always evaluate the projects we put in place.

13:54

Do you want to go ahead, John?

13:56

Uh we do have an evaluation initiative.

13:58

We do always go back and of course take a look at our projects after they have um been completed.

14:03

Um what I would say is we've pivoted to be um a lot more data focused on what our evaluate evaluation initiative will do moving forward.

14:13

So we've always gone back and evaluated projects for the goals that we set, uh whether it was safety or mode shift or um capacity opportunities or transit opportunities along corridors, but our evaluation initiative that we've now um annually funded through the programs will go back and uh look at speed cushions.

14:35

Um not just from a quantitative way.

14:37

I think maybe the flag here is that we're also looking at qualitative, so we're doing surveys.

14:41

We're asking members of the community, you know, did this make you feel did uh for for both maybe a bicyclist and a driver in a car.

14:48

Uh did these speed cushions make you feel safer?

14:51

Um do you do you feel that the roadways um are harder to navigate as a result of X, Y, or Z?

14:57

Yeah, uh that probably wouldn't work in District Six as we don't have any speed cushions.

15:00

Yeah, that probably wouldn't work in District 6 as we don't have any speed cushions, but that's another discussion we need to have.

15:05

Um we really as as a city, we've we've got to look at our budget.

15:15

Um I am not a defunder of our safety budget.

15:26

But what's more valuable?

15:28

How much are we spending to be sure that our bicycles are safe in our garage when we obviously need money for safe routes to school and all your other programs?

15:42

What is the safe routes to school budget for 2026?

15:47

Yeah.

15:49

I could go back and pull up your notes that you sent me when I had to answer that question before.

15:53

But I think it's extra 1.6 million.

15:57

Approximately I I I think it's about 2.5 million approximately.

16:00

We just and I voted for it.

16:02

We voted what I'm referring to is 70 million dollars of capital funds for a soccer stadium.

16:12

I can justify that vote, but we gotta figure out when we make these investments where such other critical areas are not being funded.

16:28

Let's take some of that money that's supposedly coming back from the economic uh uh uh dollar generation projects like uh the soccer stadium uh are going to generate and make sure it goes into these critical areas that are not being adequately funded.

16:49

Two point something for safe routes to school is ludicrous when you compare it to the need.

16:56

And the need is obviously in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

17:00

Um there is expensive.

17:03

Just to give you clarity, it is uh two million dollars, 1.3 of it was from city sources, 1.1 of it for what grants we've secured from the state.

17:11

Uh, and then you all additionally added 1.6 million into that.

17:15

So we're at a total of 3.67 right now for this year.

17:20

And that does so little that when we're talking sidewalks and widening things and uh all that.

17:27

Um so I guess my my last question was uh probably most important.

17:35

Um where is the failure?

17:39

What why did those numbers go up?

17:41

And this is coffee table.

17:43

You know, like what are we missing?

17:46

Are we not spending enough on speed cushions?

17:48

Should we be narrowing roadways?

17:51

What the heck?

17:53

That's what we're gonna be sitting and also doing some additional thought and analysis on why we do these rapid responses.

17:59

So, you know, there's there's three elements, I think, when we sit and we look at this.

18:03

There's behavior, the the behavior of the people traveling in the system who are driving it, walking it, riding it, et cetera, and sort of their behavior, impairments, distracted driving, et cetera, and sort of those behaviors and how those fit together.

18:15

Um there is the infrastructure that we could and should be doing, and how do we change the infrastructure to make it as safe as we possibly can.

18:22

I'll use hopokenness.

18:23

I'm there quite a bit as my son's in New Jersey, so I'm in Hoboken a lot.

18:26

They have it's an old community, very old, very narrow, very packed with cars, very very close parking.

18:33

So people cannot speed, they cannot walk, they have to keep their eyes peeled with when you see people around walking, riding, biking, and they are not going fast.

18:40

And so even if you have an incident where a pedestrian crosses in front of a vehicle, that that vehicle might be going 20 or less uh in a corridor, which enhances the survivability.

18:49

Just gonna say it like that, it's very blunt.

18:51

So how we continue to address our infrastructure questions from crossings to protected environments to how we reduce speeds and corridors, etc.

19:00

are all part of our approach in when we do this.

19:02

And then the last piece is actually services and and and how those fit.

19:06

Not one person died riding an RTD bus.

19:09

From a mobility choice perspective, I'll just mention that.

19:12

When we talk about things like load choice and otherwise, you know, so there are other elements that you can think about about how people travel or how they get from point A to point B, and how we think about how we improve safety.

19:22

This last year you sit and you look, we had an increase in our scooters uh by a significant amount.

19:27

We also know that the ridership has gone up significantly in Denver, as you were aware.

19:32

Actually, proportionally, our fatalities are are still down and our injuries are down because of the increased amount of ridership that we have.

19:40

So proportionally it's down, but nonetheless, it was a number that went up and it was uncomfortable.

19:45

This question of the eight red uh eight pedestrians on the interstates was shocking in many ways, and shocking that you had that many pedestrians dying on interstate, and what are people doing in that interstate?

19:56

How do you treat that a behavioral piece on it frankly on that?

20:03

I'd appreciate seeing is we know I'd appreciate the chart, numbers going up on people we've lost, but um I'd like to see that uh per thousand residents because our our population changes and I'm wondering I just love to see that if we can provide that together.

20:24

We can absolutely thank you very much.

20:26

That's all manager.

20:29

Council president Sandoval.

20:36

Thank you, Madam Chair.

20:40

Um so some questions for Dottie.

20:44

When we're looking at the um safe routes, all the not certain safe rhetorical school, sorry.

20:53

When we're looking at all of the data, you keep referencing DPD.

20:57

Do you reach out to FIRE, Denver Fire as well to see what their um what their analysis is?

21:07

Usually we focus on DPD and uh we can focus, you know, we can include Denver fire as well as part of the rapid response.

21:16

John, do you keep remind me sometimes with our road safety audits or first responders?

21:21

We'll include fire.

21:24

I'd have to go back and look at the invite list for those, yeah.

21:28

Yeah, usually with a rapid response particularly, um, it is the investigating officer that participates in in those uh field visits and has the latest information uh you know from first responders, so consolidate.

21:44

And I don't necessarily mean that, I mean number slide 15.

21:48

Um oftentimes our fire department is first on scene because they have a requirement according to what we um our fire standard, they have to be there within four minutes, and so it's usually within four, maybe five, six minutes, and they're often the ones taking the first initial um responses and are actually looking at what happened and getting um um testimony first, and then oftentimes it's the police that show up second.

22:25

So I I wish that it was more of a holistic approach with fire, they're so essentially.

22:32

Um they not saying that police officers don't ride around, but they our fire departments ride around in bigger rigs, and so they see things in a very different um from a very different vantage point.

22:45

So I would, if you could please.

22:47

I've I've done an analysis when I've looked at 32nd Avenue.

22:51

I've gotten data from DPD and I've gotten separate data from FIRE, and they don't match up.

22:57

And fire has a very different look at things, and so when I um put the information together and then parsed it out, it tells a very different story.

23:08

So um for the fatality on 38th in Tihone, it was two blocks away from a fire station.

23:14

They were right there.

23:15

They literally got in their rig and were right there.

23:18

So to not have fire part of the analysis is concerning.

23:24

I think also along federal.

23:26

I know I have a fire station in my council district, councilman of I can't remember if one of the 23.

23:33

Yeah, 23s, and that's a really busy station major.

23:38

So to not have them have an analysis and say, hey, what do you all see along 26th and federal, just in your life of living in a fire station for 24 hours, I think is a miss.

23:50

So if you could start including the fire department, I would really appreciate that.

23:56

Thank you.

23:56

The next question I have is some of these Denver moves, everyone um slide 20.

24:05

Um we're looking at major pedestrian intersection projects, slow safe slow networks and bikeways.

24:15

Along 41st and um low, I have a protected bikeway or a bikeway.

24:22

It's like one of the bikeway streets of 41st, and it has a rapid fire beacon, a flashing beacon.

24:28

Um, and a young gentleman got hit going to um Skinner on his bike, and then on 41st on Federal, a young person got hit going to Centennial on their bike.

24:43

Um so we're pushing these bikes on to 41st, which is working, but we're not looking at the other intersections like federal and um Irving and Lowell.

25:00

And those speed limits on Lowell are so fast.

25:04

And what's interesting about my council district is I 70 has an off-ramp.

25:09

I've talked to the director Ford about this.

25:11

And people get off on I-70 to circumvent um federal or Sheridan and they just speed.

25:18

So I would really I have a registered neighborhood organization who and the advocate in Northwest Denver who's been asking for a response on looking at low.

25:28

And I don't see it on the map.

25:30

So I would just love if that could be updated and add lull.

25:34

And then another um just thought I have is when we do these improvements, um, such as 29th Avenue Bike Lane, it has pushed um traffic on to 20 to 32nd and to 26th.

25:55

And I keep telling my residents that's because that's what we want.

25:58

We want 29th Avenue to be safe for um the bikes to go on there.

26:03

That's the infrastructure that we pushed out onto.

26:07

But it takes so long to do an analysis of the other impacts.

26:12

I just don't know how an answer for that.

26:14

So I don't, that's like a longer conversation, but how do we do the analysis of the impacts that the intended impact of pushing traffic on to 32nd and 26th?

26:27

Um because we have schools on 26th Avenue and we have Sloan's Lake.

26:33

So that's just a problem we're gonna have to put for another day because it's it we're late and I already know that we're running out of time.

26:42

And then for the rapid fire beacons, which are the flashing beacons.

26:51

I in the 2021 bond, I went to Dottie and I said, how do you need me to support you?

27:00

Where should I put money?

27:02

And I got money for beacons in my neighborhood, and it's 2026 and they're not even installed.

27:11

So it's like part of the you part of it, it's like, oh, we don't have the money and we don't have the resources.

27:18

And then when I got you the money, they're like, oh well, now we need to redo analysis and we don't we haven't put them in.

27:27

And one of them isn't going in that I got on 26th and Tennyson for Sloan's Lake.

27:33

And I no one's telling me where it's gonna go in replacement being moved because we're reevaluating that intersection at Sloan's Lake, and we're gonna make it better.

27:43

I do believe we're gonna make it better, but then that beacon should go somewhere else in council district one because we have such high need that I work diligently to get that.

27:54

And it so I I know that you all in the city are doing more with less, and I realize that we all in the city are doing more with less.

28:04

I don't think one city council person here on their aid are not doing more with less.

28:10

I just want to make sure that the as you all have lost a lot of employees, the communication.

28:18

I've I've talked to you about this, Amy.

28:20

The communication is it's a little like um, it's so change because you got all change the structure of who's communicating and who's not.

28:30

So I just hope that we can get some of these answers because in my career of being at the city since 2012, I've never had so many complaints about Dottie.

28:40

And I feel disappointed because you have a lot of really dedicated hard working employees who work for that agency who are not getting the recognition they deserve because of some of the miscommunication and some of the um non-coordination that we're experiencing.

29:00

So if you could follow up with me on those issues, I don't we don't have time for uh response right now.

29:08

Um, but those are just things, and thank you, madam chair, for bringing this.

29:12

This slide deck is really important.

29:14

Um, and maybe we could even have in like a couple months have a follow-up with a little bit more time to uh maybe an early start time to have this um necessary conversation.

29:24

Thank you.

29:25

Thank you, and we'll do that follow-up.

29:27

Yeah, when we do our next one on one on maybe neighborhood streets, we can pull some of these details back into discussion as well.

29:35

Thank you so much.

29:36

Um we have council uh pro tem Romero Campbell and then you councilman Hines.

29:43

Thank you, Madam Chair.

29:44

Um, and thank you for this presentation.

29:47

Um I really appreciate it as um the the data pulled in all the different ways is is so incredibly helpful to be able to you know um to see what we're thinking about for this larger network.

30:03

Um I have a few questions, and I know that we're um up against time, so I'm just gonna go real quickly through my questions and then hopefully we can uh follow up.

30:14

But I was interested um on the slide for the schools that are part of the travel plan um for the safe routes to school, and is this an ongoing program?

30:23

And you know, kind of what are the schools that are participating, and is this something that uh more schools will participate in the future?

30:31

Um I'm also uh concerned about you know, Hampton Avenue is a high injury network or high injury um corridor, and um I hear a lot from students and families going to Thomas Jefferson High School.

30:46

Um, the kids who are waiting on Hampton and Monaco.

30:49

Um it's very unsafe.

30:52

And then also um they're waiting for the bus.

30:56

Um oftentimes if the bus is late or they miss it, or whatever the case may be, they will walk down Hampton over 25 and go up to um TJ, and it's incredibly safe.

31:09

But for those who are driving on Hampton, um making a left-hand turn on Holly and Ivanhoe.

31:15

Um, we get constantly complaints about um the turn light, and I know that this is kind of a dotty C dot conversation, but I'm hoping that we can um work on that together.

31:26

Um also we have uh a number of scooters and high-speed electric bikes.

31:33

Um we're seeing them more and more in bike lanes and sidewalks, residential streets on the um the paths, and I don't know if there's a study that's been conducted or looking at do we have a policy, do we, you know, what is the incidence?

31:49

Because I also um in my district get a lot of um concerns of people um of um scooters and bikes that are on trails and then go on uh the parks.

32:02

Um they'll go up and down um the the grass and it's just um there's that's why we need a skate park.

32:10

That's why we're gonna get a skate park is we needed a place for um young people to go and to be able to have that recreation, but um they are just very high speed up and down um a lot of the streets, and um it's becoming a hazard for a number of like I'm worried about the kids, but I'm also um I'm worried about the young people, but I'm also really worried about um some of the residents, the cars, and what kind of situation that's creating.

32:37

And then just finally, um the beacon lights, uh I too uh was so excited as a community member and resident, and that was something that um my predecessor, Councilwoman Black, had advocated for as well.

32:52

Um, but those flashing beacon uh lights um uh on the Highline Canal on Yale um between Monaco and Quebec.

33:03

Um I've heard that those have gone out to bid a number of times and that we weren't able to find um a vendor to be able to do it, but it is such a high need, high use area.

33:16

Um, and there are you know, I've seen people uh like near misses almost daily um when I go through there.

33:24

But I'm just really uh would like to see what we can do to get those installed um and if it has to be bundled or what the case may be.

33:33

Um what's a little disappointing is that um there's another area on Quebec that we share the um the border with unincorporated Arapahoe County and Arapahoe County started talking about this with the Highline Canal about a year and a half ago.

33:50

Um it's already been installed.

33:55

Um and it's beautiful, and it's you know, it's something that it's on the same trail.

34:00

But I just wanted to ask about those um four things, and we can hopefully follow up after this meeting.

34:06

I don't know if we have time to um if you have time to answer any of those questions now.

34:13

We'll pull all that information so that we can start pushing on all of those and give you guys updates about those, if they are or not on this, et cetera.

34:21

And the new class of bikes that you're seeing come in called eMotos, which are a little different than e-bikes, and you all are seeing them, they're very popular right now.

34:29

Yeah.

34:30

I think we will come back.

34:31

Maybe we can just do in the portion of the announcements just to be able to answer some of these questions.

34:36

Yeah, and then you can also send the answers to the entire committee as well in writing.

34:41

Um, Councilman Heinz.

34:42

Thank you, committee chair.

34:43

Thank you for uh to everyone here and uh to channel eight for being um over time.

34:49

I have notes, so I'll be uh as efficient as I can.

34:52

Um I thank you for the presentation.

34:54

Uh your vision zero slide, which was slide four.

35:00

Um you might have said this verbally.

35:01

I in my opinion, the text of the slide misses the most important part of vision zero.

35:07

It says crashes uh the the slide says crashes have predictable and preventable causes.

35:13

Um vision zero, if you go to vision zero.org, it says the road system and related policy should be designed to ensure those in better inevitable mistakes do not result in severe injuries or fatalities.

35:25

So the the mode shift is it's not an accident.

35:29

A driver just didn't have, you know, like um have a brain fart, and uh it ended up in a if the the idea is that the system and policies can be changed, um, that the street can be designed in a different way.

35:44

So I would encourage um at least the text to be massaged to talk um I think that is the crux of the the mode shift.

35:53

Um slide 14, you talk about people walking, there are people in wheelchairs who are also vision zero statistics, so I'd suggest pedestrians instead of people walking.

36:02

Slide 15 um shows that district 10 is basically a higher energy network, the entire district.

36:08

And a council member LB addresses point.

36:10

Um we have many, many uh constituents who don't own cars at all.

36:14

Um, you know, uh third of households in Catpill, a third of households in Uptown, 37% of uh City Park West residents don't own cars at all, so they have to be a pedestrian.

36:24

Um safety adjacent to schools, safe rides to schools.

36:28

Um you mentioned teller elementary, so great to hear.

36:32

Um the slide talks about a bike lane.

36:34

Um I had before you started, I had asked Dotti to fund a traffic study around Teller.

36:40

Uh it didn't happen, so I funded uh traffic study around Teller.

36:44

Uh there are some suggestions that uh that they've recommended that haven't been implemented.

36:50

So as you're considering um teller, we already have used a vendor that Dottie is has as an on-call vendor.

36:58

Um and uh so you know we we we used a tried and true Dottie vendor.

37:02

Yeah, great.

37:03

Um the speed program, I want to make an offer.

37:07

Um I want to understand how I can help you achieve your uh your vision zero statistics on it.

37:13

I think Director Ford in the budget conversation for the 2025 budget, you said you wanted a 50% reduction in vision zero by the end of 2026.

37:22

On those corners, yes.

37:23

Um I heard, so I see on slide 22 that you had a 50% reduction on two streets.

37:31

It maybe I misheard.

37:33

I thought your commitment was 50% division zero.

37:37

So, but either way, uh it's a hundred percent reduction by 2030, and with our current direction, we're um moving in the in the wrong direction.

37:46

So um if there's anything that I can do to help you do that, I I'd um I'd love to do that.

37:53

And you mentioned a map of DOTI safety data and construction plans.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████70%
Public Engagement███████████17%
Public Safety█████8%
Budget Equity Analysis███5%
Summary of Proceedings

Denver City Council Transportation Committee Meeting on Vision Zero and Safe Routes to School - March 13, 2026

The Transportation Committee of the Denver City Council met on March 13, 2026, at 7:45 PM to discuss the city's Vision Zero program, Safe Routes to School initiatives, and traffic safety concerns. DOTI staff presented data on fatal and serious injury crashes, speed management, and infrastructure projects. Council members raised questions about specific corridors, crosswalks, speed cameras, and the need for improved communication between departments.

Discussion Items

  • Vision Zero Data and Trends: Staff presented slides showing crash statistics by mode, roadway type, and location. Councilmember Hines noted that the Vision Zero slide text should emphasize that system design can prevent mistakes from causing injuries, not just that crashes are predictable. He also suggested using "pedestrians" instead of "people walking" to include wheelchair users.
  • Speed Management and Automated Speed Cameras: Staff explained that speed cameras target excessive speeders (11+ mph over limit) and have proven crash reduction factors of 45-50%, with some cities seeing 70% speed reductions. Councilmember Flynn argued that lowering speed limits does not always reduce speeds, citing examples where raising limits on highways actually lowered average speeds. Staff noted they are lowering speed limits on Alameda in the favorite area.
  • Safe Routes to School Program: Staff reported the 2026 budget is $3.67 million ($2 million from city sources, $1.1 million from state grants, plus $1.6 million added by council). Councilmember Cashman called this woefully inadequate compared to the need, which is in the hundreds of millions. Councilmember Cashman also questioned the prioritization of a $70 million soccer stadium over safety funding.
  • Specific Corridor and Intersection Concerns: Councilmember Flynn requested a crosswalk beacon at Sabin Elementary on Dartmouth and a crossing at Yates and Jewell near Dennison Montessori. Councilmember Sandoval noted that a protected bikeway on 41st Avenue has pushed traffic onto 32nd and 26th Avenues, which have schools and Sloan's Lake, and asked for analysis of such impacts. She also requested that the fire department be included in crash investigations, as their perspective differs from police.
  • Funding and Project Delays: Councilmember Sandoval highlighted that beacons funded in the 2021 bond have not been installed after five years, and staff cited resource constraints and re-analysis. Councilmember Romero Campbell noted that a beacon on the Highline Canal at Yale has gone out to bid multiple times without a vendor, while Arapahoe County installed a similar beacon on the same trail much faster.
  • Scooters and e-Motos: Councilmember Romero Campbell raised concerns about high-speed scooters and e-bikes on sidewalks, trails, and parks, and asked for a policy or study. Staff noted a new class of vehicles called eMotos are becoming popular.
  • Fatal Crash Reports: Councilmember (likely from district 10) asked about rapid response reports for fatal crashes. Staff said they can provide summary reports, but noted delays due to hit-and-run investigations and DPD evidence timelines. The councilmember had been waiting for a 2023 report on Santa Fe and Mississippi.

Key Outcomes

  • Staff committed to providing a list of crosswalk beacons in design, including the 15 locations, and to follow up on specific requests from councilmembers (e.g., Sabin Elementary, Yates and Jewell, Lowell Avenue).
  • Staff agreed to include Denver Fire in future rapid response investigations, as requested by Councilmember Sandoval.
  • Staff will provide a breakdown of fatal crashes by mode, including the "other" category for 2025 (two incidents: one at DIA involving load vehicles, one involving an ATV with a snowplow).
  • Staff will supply a per-capita fatality rate chart, as requested by Councilmember Cashman.
  • Councilmember Hines offered to help DOTI achieve a 50% reduction in Vision Zero fatalities by end of 2026, noting that current trends are moving in the wrong direction.
  • The committee agreed to schedule a follow-up meeting with more time to discuss safety issues in depth.

Meeting Transcript

Yeah, I just see some incongruency there. Um I do worry. I did the celebrity cross guard at Valverde two years ago, and a lot of the people are walking and finding their way across, but um it is still very scary for them, and so I don't know how that them doing that makes them safer, um, I guess is where I'm confused, and so uh it seems like there's a more need for infrastructure than necessarily mode shift that and I don't know what the strategy is to get the mode shift. There's also ways that you can think about encouraging and educating and thinking about um alternative modes of training. So carpool is always an option. Um I like to think about the concept of park a grade away. So as child, you know, if you must drive to school, um, you can park one block away for your first grade or two blocks away for your second, and so on and so forth. That'll be your kind of um decoupling some of the um challenges that occur when you know you have a hundred families all trying to access one parcel of land um at a 15 minute window, both in the morning and the afternoon. Um, there are ways that you can kind of disperse some of that tension that we can think about that don't always necessarily mean that uh you have to travel across to you know major roadway or high injury network roadway or core far co-core focus of the SIF routes to schools program is infrastructure safety so that you can facilitate people walking and biking as well as driving to the schools, so it's safe movement management and much of what which much of what John was talking about were those improvements on how we do that lights, sidewalks, crossings, etc. And um, and then education. Okay, that's helpful to know. Um if speed seems to be such a problem, why are we not aggressively lowering speeds on the high injury corridors? So we've got a combination of things, and we're all feel free to to to add into this. So uh we are in in many, so as you know, citywide we've lowered speed limits uh to 20 on all neighborhood streets, other than those what we call collectors or arterials. Those collectors and arterials we also collaborate with in many cases, as you're aware, they are also state highways, and so we collaborate with our partners at CDOT and others, you know, and how we can make requests to think about how we lower down speed limits. You have speed limits in a space that is about safe speeds and the travel of safe speeds. As you know, we do speed studies on what is the average speed in those corridors and then how you appropriately set the speeds there, and then how you monitor and let people know when they are speeding, which is why you have reflective speed signs and others. And so uh those are things that we are exploring, and uh, I don't know if we have instances of HI high injury networks where we actually uh Alameda is an upcoming example where we will be lowering the speed limit along Alameda in our favorite area where we've been talking about for the last you know few months. Um so that speed will be coming down in that particular corridor. And um and actually uh you probably could list some others where we've been doing it. We have a few others that we can provide you that list, and particularly we're very much interested in those excessive speeders doing 10 or more mile an hour over the posted speed limit and bringing those down. Um but yeah, we can get you a uh a list of I might add just real quickly on this question of automated speed cameras, which is always this delicate balance of how we think about it and the impacts of community and where we go and what it is in a crash reduction factor. And it as you know the state carefully crafted legislation to allow it. Um it is for excessive speeders, so it's basically 11 and over for those excessive speeders. Um you have these proven crash reduction factors when it comes to speed, and there's a pretty significant factor of you know upwards of 45 to 50 percent. You see some dramatic impact in cities and others. We've been following San Francisco's recently as they've been just implementing theirs. You're seeing speed reductions in these corridors by upwards of 70 percent. I mean, it's been very high. Why do we care about speed? I mean, you use the example of let's say a federal, and just happened we had a young man who was crossing on a uh on a scooter and crossed federal and was hit and killed. Um similarly when uh with 38th and Tejon, um, speed was a factor potentially in both of those, and let's say that there is a mistake that is made and how people are traveling as we're as they go. The speed does not allow you the chance to respond to a mistake. And that that is why we care so much about speed, because it reduces the human factor for us to be able to respond to adapt to something that maybe is happening in the corridor that that we could otherwise prevent. And that's why we care. That's why we care as much as we do about speed, and um and that's why one of the reasons that we'll be focusing again on these automated speed cameras too, and we are seeing we just nationally and otherwise, we are seeing the effect of those and what it does to have people start caring about how they drive in the behavior and about how it cares for the people around. I appreciate that. Um my last question, and then I'll um hand it over to committee chair, is just I know you talked about researching fatal crashes. I've asked for the reports on the fatal crashes in my district. I've never gotten them or gotten briefed on them. Is there a report at the end of this investigation? And are there changes made? And I think including us in that conversation would be very helpful. Absolutely. We could do that, and we can provide that report. Um we can we can provide that report in that summary report. We'll do that. Just just awareness, it takes some time sometimes uh for us as we go through that process. We absolutely can do that. Yeah, I like how long because I've been asking for reports for years, and I don't know if they're not done yet.

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