Allen Cowgill (Photo by Adam Bove)
This guest commentary is by Allen Cowgill, a Denver advocate focused on safer streets and sustainable transportation. He is a member of the Denver Bicycle Lobby and is on Twitter at @AllenCowgill.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is planning to increase lanes for cars and trucks on I-270 and says this project is about “improvements and safety.” In reality, it will increase pollution in neighborhoods inhabited mostly by people of color and could accelerate climate change by encouraging more people to drive.
CDOT could rapidly increase safety by improving deadly state highways: Federal, Colfax, Colorado, Sheridan, Alameda, and other urban arterials are the deadliest streets in Denver. This isn’t just a Denver problem. From 2009 to 2016, U.S. arterial roads designed to move large volumes of traffic quickly saw a 67% increase in pedestrian fatalities.