1st Avenue Redesign

1st Avenue Redesign – City and County of Denver

Project Overview

This project will redesign 1st Avenue from Downing St. to University Blvd., widening the Cherry Creek Trail, adding a tree lawn to the south side of 1st Ave., making safety improvements at the Downing St. and University Blvd. intersections, and preparing the corridor for future Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

This project was identified as a high priority by Denver Moves: Cherry Creek (DMCC). The Cherry Creek trail between Downing and University is too narrow to meet Denver’s standards for a regional trail. Through community outreach for DMCC, the project team heard that many residents are concerned about safety and comfort on the trail, as well as the intersections that bookend the project.

The goals of this project are to:

• Improve safety and comfort for people walking and rolling on the Cherry Creek Trail.
• Achieve a true “parkway” feel by adding trees on the south side of 1st Ave.
• Improve safety and comfort, especially for vulnerable road users, at intersections.
• Preserve space to operate future BRT.
• Increase mobility options for people who live in or travel to/through Cherry Creek.

The design elements of the project are:

• Intersection improvements at Downing St & 1st Ave and University Blvd & 1st Ave.
• Narrowed center medians to provide a wider Cherry Creek Trail for safer and more comfortable use by bikes and pedestrians.
• A tree lawn on the south side of 1st Avenue to improve aesthetics and comfort for multimodal users by creating separation from traffic and the trail.
• “Future-proof” the corridor for future Bus Rapid Transit implementation, meaning that as funding for this future project recommendation becomes available, additional street redesign would not be required.