Complete Streets for the Denver region
Designing streets for everyone
Streets play complex roles in our communities. They provide access to nearby places, support mobility for travelers and contribute to the feel and character of the neighborhood.
Introducing the toolkit
The Denver Regional Council of Governments Regional Complete Streets Toolkit provides guidance for local jurisdictions and project sponsors to implement a Complete Streets approach in which streets are balanced for all modes of travel: including walking, bicycling, taking transit, freight and driving.
The toolkit establishes a vision for how local governments and project sponsors can adopt and apply Complete Streets policies. The toolkit provides a multimodal street typology to supplement traditional roadway functional classifications; outlines design elements and guidelines that support the street typology and multimodal facilities; and offers implementation considerations for local, regional and partner organizations.
Developing street typologies
In contrast to traditional classification systems that classify road types by function and are based solely on motor vehicle volumes and motor vehicle speeds, street typologies provide design recommendations tailored to the distinct land uses, transportation functions and user needs that shape different streets throughout our region.
Street typologies help determine how to balance the safety, comfort and convenience of various users with the needs and character of the surrounding area. Planning partners can use design recommendations organized by street type as a starting place for envisioning how to reconfigure or redesign a street to achieve local and regional priorities.
Assigning street types
Multiple rounds of development and refinement of the street typology by a DRCOG-convened project team and a steering committee of jurisdictions and organizational representatives produced a street typology comprising 10 street types for the Denver region. After developing the regional street typology, DRCOG synthesized GIS data and local expertise in the planning process to assign a street type to each highway and major road across the region. The regional street typology does not include limited access highways or local streets. The process was finalized with a review of street type assignments at the local, county and regional level to ensure that street types were assigned consistently across the range of settings and communities within the Denver region.
Defining street types
Downtown commercial street
Downtown commercial streets are generally located in central business districts or larger urban cores, support a relatively continuous row of street-facing buildings that encourage street activity, facilitate high user volumes and include short blocks.
Downtown mixed-use streets
Downtown mixed-use streets are generally located in central business districts and support a mix of land uses (retail, office, residential and restaurants), are typically smaller in scale than downtown commercial streets and support high levels of multimodal travel and parking turnover.
Neighborhood main street
Neighborhood main streets are generally located in smaller communities or commercial areas, feature buildings oriented to the street with ground-floor retail, include active pedestrian space and support gathering and community events.
Mixed-use street
Mixed-use streets support a mix of land uses (retail, office, residential and restaurants) and tend to include building forms that are pedestrian-oriented, multistory and with shallow setbacks.
Regional connector street
Regional connector streets mainly support commercial land uses, include buildings with large setbacks and off-street parking and facilitate long-distance trips for transit and driving.
Neighborhood connector street
Neighborhood connector streets support residential areas, schools, parks and small retailers. They connect local streets to higher-intensity street types such as regional connector streets.
Industrial street
Industrial streets serve industrial land uses, including manufacturing and distribution centers, with buildings typically low-rise, large-footprint, and with large setbacks. If industrial use shifts toward commercial workspaces, modal priorities may shift as well.
Special-use street
Special-use streets are distinct streets that serve a variety of purposes — either short-term or long-term — with the purpose of providing space for special events or to be designed as a destination. They can be located in a variety of land use contexts. However, it is beneficial to designate special-use in dense areas with high walking and bicycling volumes. Some special-use streets allow any vehicle traffic, while others restrict traffic to emergency responders, transit, or deliveries only. Either type of design should still incorporate robust traffic calming to indicate to drivers they are entering a special street environment where non-motorized users have the highest priority.
Rural road
Rural roads are generally located in less-developed areas and are characterized by large setbacks, frontage roads, adjacent open space and infrequent intersections. Road features may vary depending on local context.
Mountain road
Mountain roads are characterized by steep and variable grades, topographic constraints, adjacent forest and open space and limited sight distance and switchbacks.
Designing complete streets
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Refining street types
The regional street typology and the assignment of street types across the Denver region are flexible and adaptable. In addition to the data annually requested of local governments, DRCOG will also request any recommended updates to the regional street typology.
To make sure the regional street typology reflects local plans and priorities, local governments should consider reviewing the street type assignment in their community whenever significant changes occur, including new planning efforts, new private development or redevelopment and shifts in travel patterns.
Prioritizing Complete Streets
Following the completion of the Regional Complete Streets Toolkit, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law , into law.
This federal legislation includes a requirement to develop a Complete Streets prioritization plan that identifies a specific list of Complete Streets projects to improve the safety, mobility or accessibility of a street.
DRCOG worked with Toole Design group to execute a prioritization analysis that identifies segments and locations worthy of investments that address safety, mobility and accessibility.
Gathering the data
As the metropolitan planning organization for the Denver region, DRCOG staff have produced a substantial number of plans that address transportation priorities, challenges and opportunities in the region. For this analysis process, DRCOG staff were able to gather the data from those multiple plans and create a single geographic information systems layer.
Scoring the factors
A core value behind Complete Streets is that they are context sensitive and equitable. Because several datasets from a variety of different plans were used to perform this analysis, each dataset was assigned a weighting based on priority or importance to take equity and context into account and ultimately prioritize locations.
Factor points logic
The results of the analysis were mapped to graphically illustrate locations and segments in the Denver region that scored the highest for being ideal areas to take action and invest in funding that addresses multiple planning priorities, including safety, accessibility and mobility.
This prioritization analysis is another tool intended for member governments to use to identify priority project candidates for funding programs such as the Transportation Improvement Program and federal grant programs.
Implementing complete streets
Making street improvements is a complex process that requires the cooperation of many stakeholders. These include both stakeholders internal to local governments and project sponsors (such as planning and engineering departments) and external stakeholders (such as landowners and the public).
When developing street designs that are balanced for all modes of travel: including walking, bicycling, taking transit, freight and driving, practitioners should consider the assigned street type, its modal priorities, compatible design elements, adjacent land uses, existing and anticipated travel conditions and local plans and projects.
Learn more
You can find more information, including the complete Regional Complete Streets Toolkit or links to download the data, using the links below:
