A plan to cut down on the number of through lanes on East Alameda near Denver’s Washington Park neighborhood is receiving a chilly reception from some residents and business owners.
The plan from Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure calls for reducing the speed limit between Logan Street and Franklin Street from 30 to 25 mph, reducing the number of travel lanes from four to two, and establishing dedicated left-turn lanes in the newly configured corridor.
“It is not going to help,” said Garrett Ladd, who co-owns the Blackbird Public House restaurant at the corner of Alameda and Downing Streets.
“I think it could be a bad move to go to less lanes,” he said, suggesting the city plan will create more backups and congestion on Alameda and steer business away from his restaurant. “As a restaurant, I can’t really rely on just the people who live next door. We have to have people able to come here. If it takes them too long to get here, they will find other places, and I will lose more business.”…