On a snowy Wednesday morning, Park Hill residents gathered at a home on Kearney Street, grabbed a donut and told Councilmember Darrell Watson how much they hated the new bikeway in their neighborhood.
Last month, workers with Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure began work on the Kearney/Krameria bike project. It includes dozens of flexible white bollards along the road and “pinch points” to narrow short segments of the street.
The 2.5 mile project is part of Denver’s ambitious effort to build hundreds of miles of bike infrastructure. Bikeways like this one do not include separate lanes for bikes — instead, they’re meant to slow down traffic and encourage drivers to share the road with cyclists.
But like in several other neighborhoods, the Park Hill project has drawn pushback. Some residents say the new traffic calming measures along Kearney and Krameria are making it more confusing, and even risky, both to bike and drive.
Some cyclists say they don’t feel safer
Brina Larson picked up cycling about a year ago, after her doctor told her to stay off her knee and pick up a low-impact exercise instead of running.
Since then, she’s ridden her bike daily, typically going from her house on Kearney Street to City Park. But after the pinch points were installed, she didn’t see cars slowing down — some said instead they’ve witnessed “games of chicken,” with cars racing to get through the pinch points from opposite directions.
“I was like ‘I got to find another route,’ which is sad because it's a bikeway, so you want to be able to use the bikeway,” Larson said.
Her neighbor, 72-year-old Bob Shaver, a local biking legend and bike-safety advocate, said he was nearly hit by a truck driver while riding through a pinchpoint.
“I was well into the pinchpoint and he accelerated,” Shaver said. “It's a snowy day, so I couldn't move behind the pylons and the signs and he came so close to me, his mirror almost hit me and I bumped into the sign.”
Shaver escaped unscathed, but he was convinced the bikeway wasn’t working.
The changes aren’t set in stone
During the Wednesday morning meeting, Councilmember Watson and DOTI Engineering Supervisor Brett Boncore heard complaints from neighbors, many of whom wanted the bikeway improvements taken down immediately. Larson, the neighborhood resident, suggested installing speed bumps instead.
Boncore said the changes to the neighborhood aren’t “set in stone” and that DOTI could work with residents to figure out better solutions. Councilman Watson asked neighbors to send their experiences with the bikeway to his office.
“I think them coming is a good first step,” said John Rice, who helped organize the meeting. “Now let's see what the follow-up is.”
Change isn’t likely to happen immediately, however. Boncore said DOTI typically waits up to nine months to see how neighborhoods are adapting to new changes.
Rob Toftness, a founding member of the Denver Bicycle Lobby, thinks the city should give neighbors and drivers time to adapt before giving up on the bikeway.
“If you put something in and then immediately rip it out, that's going to signal to all the opponents that that's how you do business in Denver,” he said.
Toftness acknowledged that the bikeway may not be perfect, but said DOTI can build on it to match the quality of other more popular bikeways in the city.
“Really the end goal is maybe we get this stuff on the street now, but someday this should be hardened, protected and made to, dare I say it, even look better,” he said.
The city is changing its focus for bike infrastructure
Right now, many bike lanes and neighborhood bikeways are on quiet side streets. But Denver’s bike lane strategy is set to shift in coming years — the city plans to build over 230 miles of new bike lanes, many of which will be on major, car-dominated roads like Speer Boulevard, Broadway, and Colorado Boulevard.
The new strategy may receive pushback from businesses and residents. Recently, Denver cyclists have lost out on some planned protected bike lanes after the city received complaints about losing parking spots.
The bike lane buildout is part of Denver’s effort to eliminate traffic deaths. The city reported 83 traffic deaths in 2023. Traffic deaths in recent years have been significantly higher, with the city seeing its highest totals in more than a decade.
City records show the new bikeway streets previously saw 47 vehicle crashes and two crashes involving bikes or pedestrians over a five-year period. The corridor saw "moderate" speeding, especially with its wide width, according to a city report.
