News Shorts

By The Denver North Star staff

• Denver’s Snow Plan
• I-70 Sound Wall
• St. Patrick’s Grade School Reunion March 16
• ADU Design Guidelines (Get Involved)
• West 38th Avenue Corridor (Get Involved)

Digging into Denver’s Snow-Plowing Plan

Last month The Denver North Star recapped Denver’s requirement that property owners clear snow and ice from their sidewalks, including adjacent ADA ramps and bus stops, by the day after a snowfall. Businesses need to clear their sidewalks immediately once snow has stopped falling.

A reader asked, in response, “why residents are expected to clear sidewalks within 24 hours, while the city is not held to the same expectation.”

According to denvergov.org, the city watches weather forecasts and deploys either a full or partial deployment of its fleet of 70 snowplows depending on conditions. Larger trucks, which come equipped with liquid and solid deicers, focus on main streets. Smaller plows clear snow only on residential streets that are near and around schools. 

The remainder of residential streets are plowed by the city only when it has determined that large enough amounts of snow have accumulated. To address deep rutting on side streets and make travel passable to main roads, 4×4 truck plows make a single pass down the center of the street.

Residents can call 311 with reports of excessive ice on roads and in bike lanes, and can read the city’s daily snow plan and track snow plows during a snow event on a live map at www.denversnowplan.com.

Calm Before the Sound Wall

A years-long drama to replace 50-year-old timber fencing along I-70 with a concrete sound wall reaches a new chapter this month. 

According to CDOT’s Presley Fowler, “We anticipate minor construction to start in February with noticeable construction to begin in March, weather pending.”

Dilapidated wooden fencing has fallen down in so many areas that nearby residents organized a Facebook group to track their attempts to hold city and CDOT representatives accountable.

The Denver North Star first reported on the sound wall project in May 2021. Funding had been secured, and CDOT completed a 5,500-foot segment of the project between Tennyson Street and Lowell Boulevard in 2022. 

CDOT has contracted Hamon Infrastructure to complete the remaining 3 miles of guardrail and sound walls.

CDOT will begin posting project updates online in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Tamara Rollison, CDOT communications manager for the Denver region, can be reached at tamara.rollison@state.co.us.

St. Patrick’s Grade School All Class Reunion March 16

A class reunion will be held from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, at the Potenza Lodge Hall (1900 W. 38^th Ave.) for any and all graduates of the former St. Patrick’s Grade School on Pecos Street. The reunion is potluck — bring food and drink — and the bar will be closed.

The school graduated its first class in 1916 and did so annually until it closed in the 1970s. Many graduates still live in or pass through North Denver. Help spread the word.

RSVP to Sandy Mancinelli at 720-422-4224 or sandymezramerica@aol.com. 

ADU Design Guidelines on Agenda for Feb. 27 Landmark Preservation Meeting

Landmark Preservation Denver is preparing to update the city’s Landmark Design Guidelines for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in historic districts and landmark properties. 

It will host a meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library (2401 Welton St.) to begin hearing from the community about what these new guidelines should include.

Visit denvergov.org/landmark to RSVP (not required) and for more information in advance of the meeting.

West 38th Avenue Corridor Study Underway

Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) began its public outreach Feb. 15 for a project that intends to “improve mobility and safety, plan for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), and identify opportunities to ‘green’ the corridor” along West 38^th Avenue between Fox Street and Sheridan Boulevard.

According to DOTI, the project is expected to take about a year and will include community outreach activities such as workshops, surveys, pop-up events and focus group meetings with residents, neighborhood leaders and community organizations.

Visit denvergov.org/doti or contact project manager Phoebe Fooks at phoebe.fooks@denvergov.org to get involved.