Denver’s hottest neighborhood has a choke point.
Over the past decade, RiNo has been a redevelopment hot spot, with apartment complexes, hotels and office buildings going up where warehouses and auto repair shops once stood.
But when those new residents and workers jump in their cars to and from work, many wind up sitting in the same spot, backed up waiting to go under the 38th Avenue underpass.
The underpass runs under the railroad tracks that divide RiNo in two and narrows to just one lane in each direction, with a traffic signal on either side. It’s one of only two ways for cars to get from one side of the neighborhood to the other. The second, an underpass along Broadway, is wider but all the way at RiNo’s other end.
As a result, 38th Street at 9 a.m. or 5 p.m. is a guaranteed headache.
“It’s like everything that could be wrong about it, is wrong about it,” said Patrick Riley, a city employee.
Last week, Denver voters approved a $950 million bond package that will finance 90 projects around the city, from new parks to police training facilities and library renovations. Also on the list are changes at the 38th Street underpass.
“I don’t need excuses for why it’s broken. We just need to acknowledge it’s broken and fix it,” said Riley, the city’s bond program manager.
But the changes won’t include what drivers likely most want: a second lane in each direction. The underpass project is getting only $7.7 million.
“You’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of years,” Riley said.
The other complicating factor is Union Pacific Railroad, whose tracks run over 38th. Riley said the railroad’s bridge, with its old steel columns, is when it “starts to feel a little nasty underneath there.” He’d like to add lighting to it, strengthen the support beams and improve the pedestrian and cyclist experience through the underpass.
“When you deal with the railroad, anything you do that touches their structure requires significant agreements and significant reviews,” Riley said. “We’re going to talk to them and see how on board they are for this, and I will tell you that I’m prepared for them to not be on board. … So if they tell us we can’t mount lights on the wall, we’re gonna put lights in the goddamn sidewalk.”
The most noticeable thing for motorists might be the planned installation of “fully actuated” traffic lights at the 38th, Marion and Walnut streets intersections. Instead of operating on a fixed interval, the lights will use cameras to track traffic flow and adjust signaling accordingly.
“I think everybody still, long term, wants a wider underpass and a deeper underpass,” he added. “That’s just not what this project is. This project is about improving the traffic, improving the experience of the underpass, protecting critical elements to make sure that we don’t have a strike that could compromise this bridge.”
The first part of the underpass project will be traffic studies, which will begin next year. Riley also will start talking with nearby property owners and neighborhood groups. He expressed openness to other changes, say, to the Wazee Street’s awkward off ramp from 38th and the traffic signal on the other side of the underpass at 38th and Brighton.
Riley emphasized, though, that the existing bridges are in “totally fine condition.”
Bernard Hurley, a developer who owns the former Blue Moon brewing space and 6 acres around it along 38th Street, said he’s hopeful about the changes.
“I think it’s going to give a lot better access and flow to the neighborhood. I think that’s been a big problem,” Hurley said.
Riley said he plans to begin construction on the underpass by 2027. He emphasized Mayor Mike Johnston’s commitment to completing all of the projects within six years.
“No project is going to just sit and wait for future phases. This will be the first time we’ve ever done that, just for the record — I’m making people super-duper uncomfortable,” he said.
Riley, who came to Denver from Virginia in the early 2000s, said he has “no formal education.” He just likes to build stuff.
“When I was 18, and I was just kind of a screwup, I started moving lumber and drywall and basically apprenticeshipping as a carpenter, and I have just managed to work my way up this whole time,” he said.
The longtime city employee has had his hands in a number of projects, including the addition of storm drains and sidewalks along Brighton Boulevard and the expansion of the National Western Center. He recalls building out bond-funded projects in 2008, back when he was working for construction companies.
So when it came time to draw up a list of projects for this round of funding, he said he was ready for the task. Riley said of the thousands of ideas considered, roughly 275 were given serious deliberation.
“Tariffs are choking everything, which is a part of why we’re doing this right now. … The Feds are revoking (expletive) money. Everybody is paralyzed because they don’t know what tomorrow holds. We needed to take control of our own destiny.”
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