Denver, CO

Denver makes changes to 7th Avenue intersection amid criticism from neighbors, cyclists

Published

1 year ago

September 1, 2023

Denver makes changes to 7th Avenue intersection amid criticism from neighbors, cyclists

DENVER — The City of Denver has made adjustments to the intersection of 7th Avenue Parkway and Williams Street, which was reworked significantly as part of the city’s Neighborhood Bikeways program.

Earlier this month, neighbors and cyclists told Denver7 that the intersection was confusing and made them feel less safe.

Denver

Neighbors and cyclists call new 7th Avenue intersection in Denver less safe

7:30 PM, Aug 09, 2023

“[Department of Transportation and Infrastructure] staff appreciate all of the feedback we’ve gotten on this intersection in particular that can help us ensure it is safe and comfortable,” Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) said in a memo released this month. “We’ll continue to monitor this location as drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians adapt to these modifications.”

The memo lists several changes made to the intersection following a community meeting held by the city. They include:

An added stop sign and stop bar to slow car traffic in benefit of bikes crossing
Moved signs for better visibility
Added yield markings within the bike lane
An update to Google Maps to reflect the new “Do Not Enter” signs for westbound traffic
Removal of flexposts from the bike lane to help cyclists better maneuver the turn now required to continue east along 7th

The flexpost removal is a welcomed update for Jan Douglas, who spoke to Denver7 earlier this month about the intersection.
Douglas was biking through the intersection with her husband when she crashed at the sharp turn. She said it created a blind spot behind her, and she didn’t see another cyclist riding toward her.

The crash sent Douglas to the emergency room with a large bruise on her abdomen and took two weeks to heal, she said.

The removal of the flexposts at the turn allows for a softer turn and better visibility, which Douglas said is an important change for the better.

“I’ve been watching bikes do it even just now,” Douglas said. “It’s a more feasible turn. They can actually look to their left to see if anyone’s coming fast the other direction, which is what I couldn’t do.”

Even with the changes, Douglas, her husband, and several others told Denver7 they still feel the reworked intersection is unsafe and unusable for bikes, cars and walkers.

Mark Turnage, a resident near 7th Avenue who bikes the area “all the time,” said the city should change the intersection back to its prior form.

While Turnage praised many of the other bike lanes installed by the city — and some of the changes instituted further west on 7th Avenue — he called the reworked intersection at Williams a “disaster.”

“This particular bikeway, and how they’ve navigated it and how they’ve put it in — without consultation with the neighborhood — has been a disaster,” Turnage said.

Another common complaint neighbors raised was drivers disobeying the new “Do Not Enter” sign, meant to stop westbound traffic from continuing along 7th Avenue past Williams Street. DOTI said in its August memo it is aware of the issue, and “will work with our enforcement teams to ticket drivers if this continues.”

Denver’s Neighborhood Bikeways programs is part of its Vision Zero mission to eliminate traffic deaths. It is based on a similar program from Sweden, launched in the 1990s to great success. Sweden has been able to reduce its traffic deaths by half.

Rob Toftness, the co-founder of the Denver Bicycle Lobby, said the city deserves credit for its investment into new bikeways, as well as the speed at which it is implementing them. He stressed that tweaks to bikeway installations should not distract from the important mission they serve. His daily bike commutes downtown have felt much safer now that he can take bikeway routes.

“There are connections being made now, and that’s really cool,” Toftness said. “I can get to the grocery store completely protected. I can get to work protected.”

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Denver, CO

Colorado State Patrol urges drivers to remain in Denver amid winter weather in the mountains

Published

1 hour ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Colorado State Patrol urges drivers to remain in Denver amid winter weather in the mountains

GEORGETOWN, Colo. — The Colorado State Patrol said the “best option” is to remain in Denver amid winter weather that’s impacting roadways in the mountains.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the agency said westbound Interstate 70 is closed at Georgetown due to unsafe conditions between Georgetown and the Palmer Divide.

There is limited lodging and parking in Clear Creek County, according to CSP. The agency said the “best option is to stay in Denver.” It is unclear when the roadway will reopen.

Eastbound I-70 traffic was held at the Eisenhower Tunnel due to a crash just east of the tunnel, according to CSP. The roadway has since reopened.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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Denver, CO

How Broncos’ Alex Singleton, Wil Lutz ended up in the Colorado Ballet’s rendition of “The Nutcracker”

Published

11 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

How Broncos’ Alex Singleton, Wil Lutz ended up in the Colorado Ballet’s rendition of “The Nutcracker”

If you find yourself in a Christmas chariot this week, perhaps a pair of Broncos will be carrying it.

Denver inside linebacker Alex Singleton and kicker Wil Lutz looked like pros over the weekend at the Colorado Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker.”

The duo made brief appearances in the ballet’s rendition of the Christmas classic on Sunday night at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House downtown.

They carried out a chariot with a ballet dancer inside at the start of the Arabian Dance. Then they stood on the stage and posed for a minute before their appearance was finished.

It lasted, Singleton told The Denver Post, maybe two minutes.

And it was nerve-wracking.

“Oh yeah,” Singleton said on Tuesday. “I didn’t know what to do. But it was kind of funny, we just stood there.”

The whole thing came about because the Broncos and the Colorado Ballet each have Dr. James Genuario on their medical staff.

That helped clear the path for Singleton, who is on injured reserve after tearing his ACL in September, to participate.

“That was my first question: Can I do it? And he was like, ‘Yeah, you’ll be fine,’” Singleton said. “I mean, I think the dancer weighed about 80 pounds and the carriage weighed about 10. So I carry more than that every day, which is nice.”

Range of motion is no problem exactly 10 weeks post-operation for Singleton.

“I got to 152 degrees,” he said. “Regular life is normal.”

Performing in a ballet, though, is hardly normal life. Singleton and Lutz had exactly zero advanced prep work for their big debut.

“I think it started at 6:30, we showed up about 6,” Singleton said. “At intermission, before we did it, they showed us how to do it and that was it. We just had to make sure the costumes fit us. … But it was really cool. We got to watch from backstage, meet all the people. It was really cool to see how it all runs and everything.”

Did you see Will Lutz and Alex Singleton in the Nutcracker with the @ColoradoBallet?🎄#BroncosCountry | @gs_off_field pic.twitter.com/Lon7TMqNj1
— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports_) December 24, 2024

Singleton said he was not particularly familiar with “The Nutcracker,” Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet.

“I still don’t know the story,” he said. “We asked a couple of the dancers and they were explaining it to us. So I kind of know that it’s like a dream for the little girl where the Nutcracker comes alive, but that’s about it.”

Singleton, of course, was Denver’s leading tackler the past two years, a captain this fall and was calling Denver’s defense before tearing his ACL in Week 3 at Tampa Bay. The injury happened early in the game, but Singleton played the rest of the game with it before being told the severity of the injury that evening. He had ACL surgery on Oct. 15 in Los Angeles and then returned to spend time around the team and rehabilitate here.

Lutz has been a model of consistency in his second year kicking for the Broncos. Three days before appearing in the show he knocked home a pair of field goals against Los Angeles, including a season-long 55-yarder.

Lutz is now 29 of 32 for field goals on the season. The only kick of less than 50 yards he’s missed was a game-sealing block by Kansas City in Week 10. Lutz has also made all 38 extra points on the year.

His 90.6% field goal rate is sixth in the NFL among kickers with more than 20 field goal attempts.

On the Colorado Ballet’s social media channels, Singleton gave himself a 7 out of 10 and Lutz an 8 of 10, with the kicker saying he was proud that he didn’t blink once.

In the locker room, at least one teammate was skeptical.

“Oh my god, I had no idea what was going on,” tight end Adam Trautman told The Post. “All they did was pick something up. Now, if they’d have danced or something, that would have been elite. But no chance they can move like that.”

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