New Denver pilot program aims to improve safety, reduce deaths on Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue

Whether you live, work, walk or drive along the corridors of Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue, people in Denver say the safety risks are high.

"It can get really bad. (There are) very fast-driving people," said Erick Quintana, who lives near the intersection of these two roads.

"Sometimes people don't follow the rules," said Fawn Luong, who owns TruongAn Gifts, a Chinese gift shop off of Federal Boulevard.

On Monday, the city of Denver, in conjunction with the city's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, announced a new pilot program leaders hope will reduce fatalities on Denver's roads.

"The single most effective way to save lives is to have people not speed," said Mayor Mike Johnston. "The single most effective way to have people not speed is to be able to hold them accountable for speeding, as well as creating the ecosystem that makes it easier to not speed."

The goal is to move Denver towards zero fatalities a year by 2030. So far this year, there have been 27 traffic deaths within the city.

"Someone who is hit at 40 miles per hour is 8 times more likely to die than someone who is hit by a driver at 25 miles per hour," said Johnston.

The 18-month pilot program will focus on mitigating traffic along Federal Boulevard from 52nd Avenue to Lloyd Avenue and on Alameda Avenue from Sheridan Boulevard to Havana Street.

Changes will include saturating these roads with speed limit signs and deploying mobile speed vans and automated cameras. The program will also include timing traffic signals at night to stay red until a car arrives and timing them to give pedestrians a greater head start walking.

"[These] are definitely streets that need attention in my opinion, because it's where people race the most," said Quintana.

People like Luong are supportive of the city's focus on these two corridors, saying it will encourage more people to feel safer traveling to and from businesses like hers.

"If changing is better, that's good," she said. "More protection for the people."

This pilot program will be paid for through DOTI's budget. Those changes will cost about $1 million each for the two corridors.