Two contractors could soon start construction on Denver’s sprawling new Sidewalk Enterprise Program, which collects fees from property owners to fund thousands of miles of sidewalk repairs and construction.
Milender White Construction and SEMA Construction could be paid $25 million and $50 million, respectively, over the next three years if Denver City Council approves the contract. They would be responsible for managing new construction and repairs of sidewalks across the city.
“This is a resource mechanism to allow us to flexibly deliver a large number of projects. It allows us to also act quickly and have that flexibility,” Geneva Hooten, the director of the city’s sidewalk program, told the council’s Land Use and Infrastructure committee.
If hired, the contractors would bring the sidewalk program one step closer to reality. In 2022, Denverites voted to approve the new sidewalk construction program. However, implementation was delayed twice as the city figured out the best way to make it work.
In late 2024, the city finally confirmed the fees would be coming, adding a minimum $150 annual fee to the municipal stormwater bills property owners have to pay to the city.
The city estimates it will collect $108 million over the next three years from those fees. That money will be used to create “a comprehensive program to repair hazardous sidewalks, reconstruct sidewalks that are deficient, and build sidewalks where they're missing.”
Construction is set to begin sometime this year and will extend to at least 2028 under the proposed contracts. The fees will be collected indefinitely, and construction of the full network — estimated at nearly 3,500 miles — could take decades.
Here’s what’s next for the sidewalk program.
City workers have already identified projects it wants the contractor to work on.
The Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is already using money from the fee for relatively minor spot repairs to damaged sidewalks in Sloan’s Lake, Berkeley and Capitol Hill. The pace could pick up significantly with the construction companies on board.
“These two construction contracts give us the capacity to deliver that work faster,” Hooten said.
The plan would address damage to flagstone and regular sidewalks or curbs.
But the two contractors would primarily be responsible for building new sidewalks and closing gaps in the sidewalk network — a task that could take years to complete.
Construction of new sidewalks will mostly be concentrated in the Globeville and Elyria Swansea neighborhoods, but they’re also planned forHarvey Park, Green Valley Ranch and Sloan’s Lake.
The contractors passed the LUTI committee unanimously. They’ll head to the Denver City Council for final approval.
In the meantime, sidewalk damage can be reported to the city using 311’s online service hub. The city notes that sidewalk repairs are not on-demand and are instead prioritized based on severity and geography.
Editor's note: This article was updated to correct the price of the contracts offered to the two companies.
