Denver speed limit reduction project rises to almost $1.7M due to inflation
Denver is changing speed limit signs in some neighborhoods, and the cost to replace them is going up.
The original cost was $1.2 million, but due to inflation, the cost will be around $1.7 million.
City Council members with the Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will discuss the approval of rise in contract to nearly $1.7 million with Roadsafe Traffic Systems, Inc.
The rise in cost is due to the newly inflated cost of materials to change the street signs from 25 to 20 miles per hour on residential streets. Denver City Council voted in December 2021 to change the street signs as part of its Vision Zero program to reduce the number of traffic-related deaths in Denver.
"This was the first time we had ever planned to outsource a signage replacement project this big, and so our initial estimate was just that — an estimate," said Vanessa Lacayo, Marketing and Communication Specialist for the Department of Transportation & Infrastructure.
"Our contract reflects the lowest bid we received for the work and the time we spend doing a thorough inventory of existing signage and building a concrete scope of work," she said.
Lacayo also added that as part of the strategy moving forward, they plan to reduce the overall number of signs out now from 3,500 down to approximately 2,000 signs with a focus on areas that enter onto the local streets from the arterial streets. They will also use gateway signs so, as people enter Denver off the highways, they will have informational signs that state the speed limit on local roads is 20 mph.
"While we know most fatal and serious injury crashes are happening on our arterial and collector streets as opposed to the local streets, we think these changes will have a positive impact. We hope that updating these signs and reducing the speed limit on our local streets will draw attention to the topic of speed in general and help create a culture of safety within our neighborhoods where we are more likely to see people walking and biking," said Lacayo.
According to city data from Vision Zero, 82 people died on city roads last year, and 17 people have died this year.