Hello, Denver.
A large event will be shutting down some of our downtown streets in the coming days, which means I'm here to tell you to stay the hell away from that mess.
As always, the city will have fireworks and live music for its Independence Day Eve Celebration on July 3. I'll emphasize again that driving near the fun stuff will not itself be anything like fun.
Things will get going at 8 p.m., but the streets near Civic Center Park will begin to close much sooner than that. In fact, one of them is already closed.
Monday, July 2
- Bannock Street will be closed between Colfax and 13th avenues from 6 a.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Wednesday. This includes the Bannock Street bike lane.
Tuesday, July 3
- Cherokee Street will be closed between Colfax and 13th avenues from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- 14th Avenue will be closed between Delaware and Broadway from 8 a.m. Tuesday to 3 am on Wednesday. This includes the 14th Avenue bike lane.
- Broadway will be closed between Colfax and 14th avenues from 6 to 11 p.m.
- Colfax Avenue may be temporarily closed from between Cherokee and Bannock streets during the fireworks safety from 9:15 to 10:30 p.m.
In case it helps, here's a little map of all that (click on the lines for details):
By my calculations, this means that what I call The Nah Zone (see above illustration) is at least a three-block radius around the area.
If you're attending the fun times, Denver Public Works and your pals here at Denverite recommend you get there via your preferred non-car mode of transportation. If you must drive, public works suggests parking at the Cultural Garage at 12th and Broadway, the Denver Justice Center Garage at 490 W. 14th Ave. or Central Parking lots and garages at 1530 Cleveland Place, Pavilions (15th & Welton ), 1256 Delaware, 1440 Tremont, 1200-1300 blocks of Cherokee and 1745 Sherman.
