To develop and support a fully connected multi-modal transportation network, the city regularly studies and reviews current and future needs to set priorities and allocate resources. These planning projects reflect the dynamic conditions in Denver today and help us serve residents in the short and long term.
Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails is a citywide plan for completing and improving sidewalks, street crossings and trails – the most essential elements of our transportation network. Denver will be improving connections near transit, as we strive to make walking and using a wheelchair safer and more comfortable in every corner of our city. It also includes exciting recommendations for enhancing our recreational trail network, including opportunities for new multi-use and singletrack trails.
For pedestrians, Denver Moves: Pedestrians & Trails identifies a Complete Network of new sidewalks, widening of existing sidewalks, at-grade crossings of streets and grade-separated crossings of major barriers such as freeways, railroads and rivers. Many design treatments contribute to a highly walkable environment, including geometric treatments, traffic signal treatments and streetscape treatments. Denver Moves: Pedestrians & Trails focuses on the most essential elements of a transportation system for people walking. This plan identifies the overall cost for each of these elements, along with implementation priorities.
The total cost of each of these elements is:
For trails, Denver Moves: Pedestrians & Trails identifies a Complete Network of new paved trails, new singletrack trails, widening of existing trails and new and upgraded trail connections and street crossings. New and widened trails are proposed according to new trail design guidelines; these guidelines are based on national best practices and can later be adopted as standards.
The total cost of each of these elements is:
Although these costs are high, having an understanding of the total cost is critical for the city to identify annual funding levels to achieve the community’s vision for a walkable Denver and for a world-class trails system.
The city will use these plans to identify new capital-funded projects, grant funding opportunities and, in some cases, General Obligation Bond projects.
Both the pedestrians and trails elements include a variety of other useful elements and recommendations, such as planning tools, design guidelines and policy and program action plans.
Denver Moves: Pedestrians & Trails includes separate pedestrian and trails elements. Although these elements are described separately, efforts were made through their development to ensure their integration with each other and with Denver Moves: Bicycles and Denver Moves: Transit.
In addition to identifying projects, policies and programs for pedestrians and for trails, Denver Moves: Pedestrians & Trails includes several components that can stand alone but serve as a critical building block to this plan:
Pedestrian Priority Areas – these are being defined by Blueprint Denver and represent areas where land use, built environment and demographic factors contribute to high levels of walking. They inform how a street’s design and operations should differ to serve high levels of walking.
Pedestrian Demand Index – this is an approximation of pedestrian demand that the city can use to inform regular prioritization of pedestrian infrastructure, including for annual budgeting. The Pedestrian Demand Index is more detailed than Pedestrian Priority Areas in regards to how pedestrian demand levels vary throughout the city.
Sidewalk types – sidewalk types address how sidewalks should be designed when meeting the city’s standards is not feasible or when planning or designing in Pedestrian Priority Areas. Future changes to the city’s design standards, rules and regulations or policies can incorporate these sidewalk types.
Trail design guidelines – the Parks & Recreation Department will strive to achieve these design guidelines through new trail construction and trail retrofits; upon approval by the Parks & Recreation Department these can become trail design standards.
A policy and program action plan for pedestrians and trails – City policies or programs have a significant effect on walkability and trail infrastructure; refinements to these policies and programs ensures that they promote this plan’s vision. Changes to these policies and programs are beyond the scope of this plan so an action plan is provided so these changes can happen over time.
Conceptual designs of high-priority trail projects – the Parks & Recreation Department will use these conceptual designs to program projects into future budgets and as a starting point for high-priority project designs.
Key messages for a future education and outreach.
Recommendations for how to monitor progress for both pedestrians and trails.
Recommendations for how to integrate this plan into the Neighborhood Planning Initiative.
Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails contains goals for the Denver’s pedestrian environment that came from the public outreach process. Each goal contains a performance measure, which helps Denver account for its progress as it works towards creating a world class pedestrian city.
The plan identified six goals derived from community input. Each goal includes a performance measure so that the goals and measurable and so that progress can be tracked over time.
Goal 1: Accessibility
Goal 2: Connectivity
Goal 3: Destination Access
Goal 4: Equity
Goal 5: Health
Goal 6: Safety
The Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails includes visionary planning tools that help the City better understand where to invest in new sidewalk or crossing projects. The plan discusses “pedestrian priority areas” and the “pedestrian demand index” which will guide Denver to prioritize pedestrian comfort, safety, and mobility.
How wide does a sidewalk need to be? How will I know if the sidewalk I’m walking on doesn’t meet the city standards? Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails discusses the typical requirements of city sidewalks, and other factors that contribute to a comfortable walking environment.
Where will new sidewalks be built? Which sidewalks will be built first? Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails lays out the citywide prioritization for the construction of new sidewalks.
The city will prioritize construction of new sidewalks that connect to high frequency transit, parks, schools, and grocery stores.
Missing sidewalks along the Vision Zero High Injury Network will also be prioritized, as identified in Denver’s Vision Zero Action Plan.
Pedestrians not only need safe sidewalks, they also need safe accommodations for crossing the street. Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails identifies on-street and off-street crossing projects that once constructed, will foster pedestrian safety, comfort, and mobility.
Beyond safe crossings and sidewalks, what are the other tools available to Denver that will help pedestrians walk when and where they want to? Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails identifies other critical tools that Denver will use to improve the comfort and safety of pedestrians throughout the city.
Beyond construction, there are other action items the city will take in support of the Mayor’s Mobility Action Plan to increase walking in Denver. Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails identifies and prioritizes action items for City Staff to pursue in conjunction with the construction of new infrastructure.
This plan was developed through the Denveright process and was coordinated with other relevant already-established and developing plans. Significant effort was made through Denver Moves: Pedestrians & Trails’ development to ensure a high degree of integration between the pedestrian, bicycle, trails and transit networks.
Denver Moves Pedestrians & Trails Task Force Meeting #5
June 8, 2017
10:00am–12:00pm
City Park Greenhouse, 2500 E. 23rd Ave, Denver, CO
Denver Moves Pedestrians & Trails Task Force Meeting #4
March 17, 2017
10:00am–12:00pm
City Park Greenhouse, 2500 E. 23rd Ave, Denver, CO
Denver Moves Pedestrians & Trails Task Force Meeting #3
November 16, 2016
9:00–11:00 am
Montclair Civic Center, 6829 E 12th Ave, Denver, CO
Denver Moves Pedestrians & Trails Task Force Meeting #2
September 9, 2016
1:00–3:00 pm
Fleming Mansion, 1510 S. Grant St, Denver, CO
Meeting Notes (PDF)
Denver Moves Pedestrians & Trails Task Force Meeting #1
July 18, 2016
Downtown Denver Partnership Board Room 511 16th St #200, Denver, CO
Agenda (PDF)
Meeting Notes (PDF)
Name | Organization/Affiliation |
---|---|
Paul Aldretti | Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Committee |
Stuart Anderson | Transportation Solutions |
Tangier Barnes Wright | Groundwork Denver |
Councilwoman Kendra Black | Denver Council District 4 |
Kaye Boeke | Southwest Neighborhood Area Resident (Barnum) |
Tom Carllon | Far Northeast Denver Area Resident |
Alexis Crews | Central Neighborhood Area Resident (Capitol Hill) |
Paul DesRocher | Regional Transportation District |
Amanda Gregg | Denver Commission on Aging |
John Hayden | Mayor's Pedestrian Advisory Committee |
Robbie Hobein | Northeast Denver Area Resident |
Councilman Paul Kashmann | Denver Council District 6 |
Angie Rivera‐Malpiede | Stapleton Foundation; Northeast Transportation Connections |
Lauren Masias | Denver South Transportation Management Association |
Aylene McCallum | Downtown Denver Partnership |
Nola Miguel | North Neighborhood Area Resident (Chafee Park); GES Right to LiveWell |
Josh Miller | Southeast Neighborhood Area Resident (Virginia Village) |
Nichole Portee | Denver Public Schools |
David Richter | Denver Parks and Recreation Advisory Board |
Aisha Rousseau | Denver Commission for People with Disabilities |
Rosemary Stoffel | INC |
Jennifer Superka | Northwest Neighborhood Area Resident (Sunnyside) |
Earlier plans have addressed pedestrian, bicycle and other mobility options. The new Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails plan will be the first plan dedicated specifically to improving pedestrian and off-street trail experiences citywide.
The 2004 Pedestrian Master Plan -- one of the first of its kind in the country -- served as a framework for implementation of new city policies related to pedestrians. Specifically, this plan supported the following goals: safety, accessibility, education, connectivity, streetscape, land use and public health. The Pedestrian Master Plan created a citywide pedestrian network; recommended pedestrian-friendly policies and identified pedestrian projects.
The 2001 Bicycle Master Plan (PDF) update focused on the grid route system, downtown bicycling, major missing links, recreational bicycling, transit access and accommodations, advocacy and parks and trails.
Denver Moves: Pedestrians and Trails will improve connectivity for pedestrians throughout the city of Denver.
Mobility is a key ingredient to connect people to jobs, housing and a high quality of life. Denver is creating a safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation system, providing people with more choices and the freedom to get around town on the travel modes that meet their day-to-day needs.
The Denver Moves: Pedestrians &Trails plan will examine how we can make walking a viable and primary mobility choice for people to conduct their daily lives and access Denver’s outstanding recreational resources. The plan will work to improve our streets and streetscapes for pedestrians and cyclists, to connect them to Denver’s robust off-street trail network.
With input from the community, the plan will identify citywide needs, values and a shared vision, and then define priorities for improving and completing Denver’s pedestrian and off-street trail network.
The plan will align projects in phases that reflect the community’s priorities and available funding sources. Finally, the plan will determine costs and evaluate funding mechanisms and policies required to achieve the vision.