DENVER — Neighbors and city officials came together Thursday to celebrate the completion of pedestrian safety improvements on Federal Boulevard and West 25th Avenue in Denver's Jefferson Park neighborhood.
Residents in the area said it started as a vision 12 years ago to build public infrastructure that prioritized people on foot. Now, a dozen years later, the community's vision came to fruition and was celebrated during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday.
The celebration included representatives of the City and County of Denver, including Mayor Mike Johnston, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), advocates for safer streets and neighbors who live nearby.
The improvements were made possible with funding from a voter-approved bond and CDOT's Safer Main Streets Program.
Crews upgraded pedestrian ramps in the area, shortened pedestrian crossing distances and installed a new Hawk signal to help pedestrians cross Federal Boulevard more safely. West 25th Ave. between Federal and Eliot Street was also transformed with new infrastructure to make it more pedestrian-friendly.
Gosia Kung has lived in the area for more than a decade. When she first moved to the neighborhood, she was always concerned while crossing Federal Boulevard, especially wither her then toddler and newborn baby.
"I would walk with a stroller, pushing the stroller and holding a hand on my toddler. And it's frightening thinking that at any point she could get away from me and get run over by the car," said Kung.
Kung has been advocating for safer streets for several years and is happy to finally see changes.
"My family essentially grew up in this neighborhood. We used to come here for dinner, come here for coffee. So it's amazing to actually see that now my kids — they're teenagers or adults — but it's great to see these improvements that make it possible for us to cross safely," she said.
"We're taking what has been one of the most dangerous parts of the city, which is Federal Boulevard, where we've had a lot of accidents previously, and we've made now a very safe — the safest walking and pedestrian crossing we have," said Denver Mayor, Mike Johnston.
Johnston said the construction in the area negatively impacted some of the nearby businesses. Now that it's complete, he's encouraging the city to support these local business owners as much as possible.
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