Avoid Broadway and Welton St. Sunday if you plan to travel by car. But if you want to meander down the street by foot or on your bike, Sunday is your chance. May 14 is the first of four days this spring and summer closing down about 3.5 miles of Broadway and Welton Street to cars and opening them up to people.
The streets will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in what the city and Downtown Denver Partnership are calling ¡Viva! Streets Denver. The closed streets stretch north from Alameda Avenue and Broadway to Welton and Downing Streets.
Officials said they chose those streets because they follow historic and cultural neighborhoods and are full of local businesses. It's an event first imagined in Bogota, Colombia in 1974 called "ciclovía," or bikeway. Denver similarly closed a range of streets to through-traffic during the pandemic, and is currently working on bringing the Shared Streets program back longer term.
Downtown Denver Partnership is hosting a range of events throughout the day.
These include a scavenger hunt, a free fitness class, a historical neighborhood tour, a dance class and more. Plus, the Denver Art Museum will be free all day. Most importantly, there's a dog parade and costume contest at 1 p.m. (Here's the full schedule.)
Cars will be able to cross at designated points, and some RTD routes will operate on an altered schedule.
Vehicles can cross at 6th., 8th., 17th., 18th. and 20th. Aves., along with Speer Blvd., Colfax Ave. and Park Ave.
These bus routes will have detours: 0, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 15L, 19, 28, 48, 52, 83 and the 16th Street Free MallRide. The L line will not run during the event (RTD suggests the 43 bus as an alternative). RTD routes will resume as normal at 2 p.m.
And while Sunday's forecast shows a chance of rain, there will be three more ¡Viva! events in the coming months, hopefully with sunshine. Those will take place on June 4, July 9 and Aug. 6.
"¡Viva! Streets is designed to be fun rain or shine, so regardless of weather, we invite everyone to come out and make ¡Viva! their own - whether it's with the help of a rain jacket or a little extra sunscreen," said Ellen Forthofer, urban planning manager with Downtown Denver Partnership.
"If we do get some rain, we encourage people to stop into some of the many local businesses along the route and check out what they have to offer if they are looking to escape the rain for a bit!"
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Forthofer.
