Traffic: A Realistic Perspective
I supported the mediation idea, as means to seek a workable solution recognizing the realities of redevelopment, values of existing properties and concerns about traffic through the neighborhood. To wit, as the committee prepares for the mediation session, please consider the following:
If traffic is really the issue, then considering traffic realistically suggests the proposal warrants more favorable consideration than the committee indicated at the last meeting.
1) YOur posting says the project represents 308 potential trips through the neighborhood daily. That's like saying every trip on Yale, Dartmouth or Colorado represents a potential trip through the neighborhood. It ignores the reality that trips to/from the project will have many origins and destinations.
For all 308 trips to go through the neighborhood, every outbound trip would have a destination in the Porter Hospital/Denver University area and want to use on Nielsen Lane. It also implies that no one from the project will work at UCHSC, DTC/Inverness/, or other places in SE Denver; go to/come from DIA, shop at University Hills, Park Meadows or golf at Kennedy Golf Course, or ... It also means that every return trip would have to be eastbound on Dartmouth and use Harrison. Clearly that's not the case.
In fact, if you account for various origins and destinations, it's more likely that the traffic increase would be on 50-to-60 trips/day through some part of the neighborhood. While some may believe that is still too many, it is probably <50% of the number of trips presently going through the neighborhood each weekday in conjunction with Wellshire Presbyterian Church's preschool and parents day out programs.
2) Traffic impacts through the neighborhood, especially on Harrison, could be reduced by having an entry/exit from the project onto Cornell. There is already a left-turn lane on northbound Colorado that would allow traffic moving in that direction to access the property, even with a right-in/right-out on Colorado. The existing intersection at Cornell and Colorado could also allow traffic from the project wanting to go north on Colorado. Yes, there are times when traffic flow may require a wait, but with lights at Dartmouth and Amherst, it is not impossible to get across. An entry on Cornell would do much to reduce potential traffic flow through the neighborhood.
Provisions for the left-turn lane and intersection could be maintained even if medians are built on Colorado Blvd.
3) At the last meeting, one resident described the rising traffic on Yale and how some diversion occurs through the neighborhood due to backups on Yale & Colorado. The "recent" re-engineering of the Yale/Colorado intersection has helped, but a problem remains. How about seeing if the developer would agree to off-site traffic mitigation as a condition of rezoning? Perhaps, he could work with the city and the Denver Water Board to see if it is possible to add a right turn lane from eastbound Yale to southbound Colorado. DWB's underground system might preclude that, but its an option -- relocate the traffic light and sidewalk further south, put in a third lane, etc. This would allow travel on Yale a quicker turn and reduce the diversion into the neighborhood.
4) Given the traffic concerns voiced at the last meeting, perhaps the assoc. should think about asking the city to make the intersections of Campus Place and Nielsen or at Amherst and Nielsen into 4-way and/or 3-way stops. That would slow traffic and also deter diversion from Yale. Perhaps this is a topic for the next meeting, irrespective of the Tuscan Home proposal.
Considering the above, I think that traffic impacts aren't as significant as they have been made to be. So again, I hope that the mediation group will approach the session seeking a way in which to define a workable solution [and no I don't think that 10 or even 15 DU's is a reasonable or workable solution].
RD
By Ron D.
