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Department of Transportation & Infrastructure

Go Speer Leetsdale

The City and County of Denver's Speer/Leetsdale Mobility Study examined transportation connectivity and operational needs for travel modes within the Speer/Leetsdale Corridor — a prominent travel route for Denver residents and one piece of the larger travel movement conecting people to I-25 to the west and to I-225 to the southeast.

This study evaluated methods and modes, such as walking, biking, public transit, and driving, to improve the way this corridor moves people between Broadway to the northwest and East Mississippi Avenue to the southeast.

The study also considered transportation facilities within approximately a half-mile north and south of the main corridor to acknowledge the broader roadway network that influences Speer Leetsdale. 

 

Go Speer Leetsdale Final Report Now Available

Key Study Recommendations

The Go Speer Leetsdale Study recommends improvements to transit, pedestrian, bicycle and driving facilities including:

  • a managed transit lane along Speer Blvd. extending between Broadway and Steele St./Bayaud Ave. that would be created by repurposing the existing outer travel lanes
  • a reversible transit lane extending between Bayaud Ave. and Mississippi Ave. in the center of Leetsdale Dr. where bus travel could prioritized inbound to Broadway/downtown in the AM and outbound in the PM peak periods
  • sidewalks or shared use paths along the entire extent of the corridor with connections to neighborhoods and to existing trails including the future underpass of the High Line Canal at Mississippi Ave.
  • bicycle/pedestrian improvements to the Cherry Creek Trail
  • a new bicycle facility on 4th Ave. between Washington St. and Williams St.
  • capacity improvements along 1st Ave. between University Blvd. and Steele St.
  • improved wayfinding and signage throughout the corridor

Specific recommendations and maps can be found in the Final Report (PDF).

Study Goals

The project team analyzed current and future (2040) demographic, land use and transportation data to explore existing mobility concerns and identified anticipated transportation issues in the future.

With help from stakeholders, the project team identified and mapped current conditions and needs for cyclists, transit users, pedestrians and drivers along the Speer Leetsdale corridor by examining the corridor’s operational and physical characteristics as well as the surrounding land use patterns. In addition, the team identified and evaluated sensitive environmental resources, properties with, or eligible for, historic status, and noise or air quality concerns.

 

cars in traffic at Leetsdale and Quebec intersection

 
 
Project Status: Study Complete

This mobility study began in May 2016 and was concluded with a final report in November, 2017. In the future, some or all of the recommendations may be refined to a higher level of detail; funding will be sought; and all or phases of improvements constructed and operated.

 
 


Speer/Leetsdale corridor study area; click to enlarge

 

Identifying a Corridor Vision

Denver Public Work’s 2008 Strategic Transportation Plan (STP) envisions a future where roadways offer increased person trip carrying capacity and improve efficiency and reliability for enhanced transit operations and non-motorized travel modes.

Go Speer Leetsdale defined the vision for the Speer/Leetsdale corridor by articulating a clear purpose and need for the study effort, collecting and evaluating data and identifying feasible, reasonable methods to address the multimodal transportation needs of the corridor. The drop-down boxes below describe the process used to identify the Purpose and Need, Vision and the possible solutions and evaluation criteria applied to evaluate the many options that became the Recommended Alternative.

Speer Leetsdale Corridor is a place where:

  • Transportation systems and facilities contribute to “complete communities”
  • There is a viable choice to leave automobiles at home
  • Technology advances out of the lab and onto the street
  • Regional and local agencies, businesses and stakeholders partner to implement the vision

Purpose

  • Accommodate the corridor’s current and growing person-trip demand.
  • Enhance existing transportation options
  • Provide additional mobility and access options
  • Improve quality of life
  • Enhance economic development opportunities 

Bicycle Mobility Needs

  • Need: Address inadequate and disconnected bicycle facilities.
  • Need: Improve ease of use for bicycle facilities.
  • Need: Address locations with demonstrated bicycle safety concerns.

Pedestrian Mobility Needs

  • Need: Address inadequate and disconnected pedestrian facilities.
  • Need: Improve ease of use for pedestrian facilities.
  • Need: Address locations with demonstrated pedestrian safety concerns.

Transit Mobility Needs

  • Need: Accommodate increasing person-trip demand resulting from population and   employment growth in the corridor.
  • Need: Address unreliable transit travel times and delay that result from vehicular   congestion.
  • Need: Accommodate increasing trips within the corridor while still providing improved   corridor-long commutes.
  • Need: Address inadequate accessibility and rider comfort at transit stops and stations.

Vehicular Mobility Needs

  • Need: Reduce congestion resulting from increasing person-trip demand related to population and employment growth in the corridor.
  • Need: Improve safety at intersections and corridor locations with higher than expected crash frequency and severity.

Livability Needs

  • Need: Provide transportation solutions that support livability concepts for everyday life by a range of transportation modes.

Transportation Access and Equity Needs

  • Need: Identify convenient and cost-effective mobility options for all users of the corridor.

After developing a clear understanding of corridor needs, a broad and comprehensive set of potential improvements will be identified and evaluated that can then be combined or packaged into a “preferred approach” for the corridor. Potential improvements include those that could be implemented along the entire length of the corridor as well as location-specific projects to address particular issues or constraints.

Potential packages of improvements will be evaluated based on how well they address identified issues along the corridor and how well they support the overall corridor vision and purpose and need developed at the outset of the project. The evaluation will provide qualitative and quantitative assessment of each package.

Evaluation criteria will be developed with the public and stakeholders.  Examples of what the criteria will consider for each alternative include:

  1. Ability to improve person trip carrying capacity along the corridor
  2. Ability to improve pedestrian and bicycle connections, network, and experience
  3. Ability to improve transit operations
  4. Impact on future travel times for all modes
  5. Anticipated impact on safety
  6. Ability to improve livability or urban design qualities
  7. Ability to catalyze/support economic development or redevelopment
  8. Impacts to existing right of way and need for expanded right of way
  9. Potential environmental impacts
  10. Cost (including capital, ongoing operations and maintenance, and opportunity costs)
  11. Other

After identifying the overall set of improvement packages (“the preferred approach”) that best addresses the mobility needs of the Speer Leetsdale corridor, the team will evaluate potential phasing opportunities considering the most acute needs, order of magnitude costs, and constructability. A recommended phasing plan will help the City identify funding opportunities to implement each project. 

Deliverables and Documentation

Each phase of the study effort will be documented in a final Go Speer Leetsdale report, which will include both narrative and technical information on the process and projects identified. The Go Speer Leetsdale final report will be available online once complete (anticipated Spring 2017).

The City and County of Denver (CCD) will actively seek input from corridor stakeholders and the general public throughout the project through advisory groups, public meetings and other outreach efforts. Members of the advisory groups are community and jurisdiction representatives, technical experts, and representatives from registered neighborhood organizations (RNOs).

The team will reach out to the public to solicit input on the issues, needs and ideas along the corridor throughout the project.  This will include the following forums:

Stakeholder Working Group (SWG)
A geographically targeted task force formed to include representation from registered neighborhood organizations, educational groups, formal business/maintenance groups, and/or transportation management associations located on or within the study area.

Technical Working Group (TWG)
Includes CCD personnel and technical partners from external agencies including RTD, CDOT, the City of Glendale, DRCOG, City of Aurora, Arapahoe County, and others as identified during the study.

Public Meetings
Formal public meetings and other engagement opportunities will be held throughout the study area duration. Meeting notices will be posted to this project page, along with archived meeting materials and public information.