If you are used to cruising through Denver’s main drags on a long stretch of green lights after midnight, that late-night free pass is starting to disappear.
Denver traffic engineers have reprogrammed signals on several major streets so that lights keep cycling overnight instead of staying green for long periods. The move forces more stops along key corridors and is aimed squarely at lowering speeds and cutting the number and severity of crashes on the city’s most dangerous routes.
City engineers say the logic is simple: higher speed means higher risk. One traffic engineer told 9News that once drivers are going above 40 miles per hour, there is roughly a 50-50 chance a crash becomes a fatal one. That sobering math is what is behind the overnight tweaks.
What City Crews Reprogrammed
According to 9News, the new overnight timing is already live on Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue and is being rolled out to Colorado Boulevard. The big change is that major signals are now set to cycle at least every 90 seconds at night, instead of sitting green for hours while only a few late-night drivers roll through…