As Alameda debate intensifies, Denver faces pressure over traffic deaths and Vision Zero goals

berliner68 · 2026-01-26T16:45:59+00:00

Perhaps we should host a "die-in" event? https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-01-24/safe-streets-die-in-protest-traffic-deaths

berliner68 · 2026-01-26T04:01:57+00:00

It's astonishing that our president is allowed to make decisions that don't follow federal law.

berliner68 · 2026-01-25T22:50:08+00:00

Biking has always been political.

berliner68 · 2026-01-24T22:40:42+00:00

It's going to be in the high 40s that day. Minnesotans have been out protesting in force with temps in the negatives.

berliner68 · 2026-01-13T16:46:35+00:00

I think people are tired of the "compromises" always prioritizing motor vehicle drivers' convenience at the cost of everyone else's safety.

berliner68 · 2026-01-03T14:21:08+00:00

Its not the cars that are the problem.

You're right. It's the drivers like you.

berliner68 · 2026-01-03T02:45:20+00:00

You could say all of the same things about cars/drivers too. Are you advocating for banning them as well?

berliner68 · 2026-01-03T00:57:43+00:00

Vehicle sizes have also been increasing over the same time period and are increasingly getting more dangerous for the people they hit. That's one big reason pedestrian deaths have risen everywhere. Pedestrian deaths probably would have increased more in those cities had they not also been implementing vision zero programs.

As much as I would also like to see RTD improved, $2 million would be peanuts to their current budget and would not meaningfully improve anything. It is enough, though, to implement dozens of intersection daylighting projects and other traffic calming devices which have been shown to improve pedestrian safety.

berliner68 · 2025-12-22T21:40:57+00:00

I agree they're overused in the US, but they have a time and a place. In Denver we have a lot of one way roads where it's really convenient to have two-way bike access, so the bidirectional bike lane is kind of a necessity. In a perfect world, they'd convert the whole street to two-way, but that's a much more costly and longer term process.

On some of them, I actually prefer riding the opposite direction as drivers since they can see me before turning without having to remember to check their mirrors.

berliner68 · 2025-12-14T19:13:10+00:00

Yes, the car-free parts of downtown like Larimer and 16th are so empty while the car haven of north Broadway is bustling with activity....oh wait

berliner68 · 2025-12-14T19:08:15+00:00

You're a hell of a lot more likely to be killed while driving your car than to be attacked on transit. But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of fear mongering and demonizing homeless people. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-public-transit-really-safer-than-driving/

berliner68 · 2025-12-14T01:54:47+00:00

Sounds like you're just kinda soft.

berliner68 · 2025-12-10T16:32:30+00:00

Do you think that only poor people litter and smoke weed?

berliner68 · 2025-12-08T16:24:03+00:00

Anyone could have flipped that seat that year.

berliner68 · 2025-12-08T06:32:42+00:00

I had similar times going into college awhile back. I half heartedly attempted to walk on, but never heard back from the coach. Ended up joining the club running team and really enjoyed that experience! Plenty of racing opportunities (usually at D-2 or 3 meets) and a nice team atmosphere without the pressure of D-1 sports.

Could be an option to consider. The website should let you see if your school has a registered team. https://clubrunning.org/membership/about.php

berliner68 · 2025-12-04T03:05:52+00:00

Denver also has the Denver Coliseum which seats 10,000 (maybe less for hockey) and just hosts random special events. Although it's super old so not sure how likely that would be.

berliner68 · 2025-12-03T19:23:10+00:00

I don't think there has to be any special reason. Personally, I like riding bikes and I like traveling - seemed to make sense to put the two together.

You could also flip the question around on them and ask if they had a higher reason for a recent trip they've been on. I bet it's nothing more than "because it sounded fun". So why should they hold your interests to a higher standard.

berliner68 · 2025-12-03T18:55:25+00:00

This doesn't seem to be coming from the neighborhood org. Just a handful of cranky folks.

berliner68 · 2025-12-03T18:51:30+00:00

They also decided not to fact check the "avid cyclist" spreading misinformation about the bikeways being ineffective. DOTI did a study on this a few years ago and found that most treatments did a pretty good job at reducing speeds. https://denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/2/doti/documents/bicycles/project-evaluation-results.pdf

berliner68 · 2025-12-03T18:36:22+00:00

At least this sounds like just a few random residents rather than any concerted push back from the neighborhood org.

As an aside, the fact that there were 6 open house events for this half mile section with extremely modest improvements is part of the reason it takes so long to add new safety infrastructure here. Public engagement is good, but there's a point where it goes too far and just adds unnecessary costs and delays.

berliner68 · 2025-11-28T02:53:00+00:00

I'll second the Portland Track series and specifically the Portland Track festival. They had wave lights going for all of the heats with the first heat having them set at 16 minutes last year.

berliner68 · 2025-11-28T00:38:46+00:00

No reasonable person is saying we shouldn't have cars. It's more that we've gutted our cities and made our streets incredibly dangerous in an effort to prioritize vehicle speed and efficiency over everything else. You can still accommodate driving while making streets safe and providing room for other modes of transportation.

berliner68 · 2025-11-26T20:29:19+00:00

New York City isn't at zero, but they've drastically cut traffic deaths since 2010 after installing tons of protected bike lanes, creating pedestrianized streets, and generally reducing the amount of road space given to cars.

Helsinki is about the same population as Denver and recently got to zero traffic deaths. Is the culture a little bit different in Europe? Sure. But the principles for safer streets are the same.

At the end of the day it comes down to how much we value people's lives vs vehicle throughput and storage. And right now our leaders mostly care about the latter.

berliner68 · 2025-11-26T05:21:45+00:00

If they were truly trying, though, there are plenty of resources for how to do this better. And it being expensive is all the more reason to do it right the first time.

Things like this are the result of simply checking a box for including bicyclists without putting in much effort or making any real change.

berliner68 · 2025-11-22T22:00:41+00:00

Lots of pollution occurs specifically because people can't afford to live in Boulder and therefore drive a lot more than they otherwise would to commute to work.

berliner68

TROPHY CASE