June 6, 2022
From Nancy Kuhn – Denver Transportation & Infrastructure
Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has fully reopened East 17thAvenue between York Street and Colorado Boulevard after closing the stretch to thru-traffic last May to upsize the underground stormwater pipe system. As travelers utilize the corridor once again, they’ll also notice safety improvements installed at Garfield Street to provide people who walk and bike with a safe crossing into City Park.
The stormwater project is part of a larger effort to build a bigger and better stormwater management system on the City’s east side of town to more effectively carry and convey water that flows through the area in big storm events. This project is in Denver’s Montclair basin, the largest basin in the city without a natural waterway to convey stormwater, and an area of town most at risk of flooding. Future projects will build off this new system as funding becomes available, ultimately reaching and providing relief to well-known flood areas, including 14th Avenue and Krameria Street. The project team will continue to work east of Colorado Boulevard for the next few months.
Meanwhile people traveling on East 17th Avenue, west of Colorado Boulevard, will notice a new median and traffic signal installed at Garfield Street to provide people on foot and on bike with a safe new crossing into City Park (see attached pictures). The crossing at 17th Avenue is the northern end of a new neighborhood bikeway being installed on Garfield Street from 17th Ave to Cherry Creek Drive North that will connect City Park with the Cherry Creek Trail. Some new signals will be added along that stretch of Garfield Street to prioritize travel by bike and reduce through-traffic by people in cars. The project furthers the city’s goals of creating a safe multimodal network that connects people to the places they want to go. The signal at East 17th Avenue and Garfield Street is expected to be operational in the next few weeks.
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