Bow Mar’s elected officials have approved plans to install gates along public roads, including South Sheridan Boulevard, that could block non-residents from driving through the small town sandwiched between Denver and Littleton.
In response, the mayors of those cities are threatening road closures of their own that could prevent Bow Mar residents from using popular exit routes from their hamlet.
“We all prioritize the safety of our communities. However, this action will fundamentally and permanently change the prior conditions of public right-of-way access for Denver and Littleton,” mayors Mike Johnston and Kyle Schlachter warned in a June 1 letter.
Bow Mar officials have already approved a series of projects meant to keep others out of town:
- A gate across South Sheridan Boulevard, just south of Quincy Avenue
- A closure of Tufts Avenue, which some Denver residents use to reach Sheridan
- A gate at the Prospect Street roundabout, another of the town’s main entrances.
“Town residents have been suggesting the need for gates at certain street locations in Bow Mar for many years,” reads a resolution from the town’s board, noting that “over 50% of the cars traveling through the Town are considered cut-through traffic.”
The gates would be operated by RFID tags granted to residents, much like a private community — though Bow Mar is a town and its roads are largely public.
With just under 900 residents, Bow Mar is a wealthy enclave whose main drag is a convenient route up to Quincy Avenue and the rest of Sheridan Boulevard for residents of neighboring areas.
The town has been fighting for years to block and track unwanted outsiders. It has embraced surveillance, installing Flock Safety cameras at its entrances — with police once using the data to falsely accuse a Denver woman of package theft.
Leaders of neighboring cities say the gates are too much.
For example, Denver and Bow Mar share the portion of Sheridan where the town is planning its gate. It’s a useful stretch of road for nearby Denver residents in the Fort Logan neighborhood: They use Sheridan to reach the traffic signal at Quincy Avenue, allowing them to make a protected left turn.
But Bow Mar could block Denver residents from reaching the shared portion of Sheridan Boulevard by closing Tufts Avenue.
The ultimate effect: Denver residents would be “effectively excluded from using a signalized intersection … creating disruption and serious safety concerns for drivers,” the mayors’ letter stated.
Johnston and Schlachter also made their own threat: Denver could install its own barriers on Sheridan Boulevard, preventing drivers from exiting Bow Mar.
And if Bow Mar drivers started using West Belleview Avenue to exit into Littleton instead, that city could also “explore options that would prohibit access,” the letter continued.
“Bow Mar undoubtedly expects its residents to have reasonable access to Denver and Littleton roads and rights-of-way. Denver and Littleton expect the same in turn,” it stated.
The town has allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the gates. The town clerk, Sue Blair, said officials were working on a statement to be released next week.
“We’ve been in contact with the Town of Bow Mar and look forward to reaching a solution that works for all parties,” wrote Jon Ewing, a spokesperson for Denver’s mayor, in an email.
Those negotiations have been happening for weeks without an apparent resolution. At an April meeting, Bow Mar Mayor Bryan Sperry acknowledged that the other cities had “considerable reservations,” according to meeting minutes.
But he “remained optimistic that through continued productive dialogue, the priority of ensuring our community’s safety would take precedence over considerations of convenience for others.”
It’s not clear when the gates could be installed, but town documents showed plans for construction this spring and summer.
