by Christine Bayles Kortsch
Drone photo courtesy of Daniel Kortsch

January 25, 2024

When neighbors band together, great things can happen! The 800 and 900 blocks of Garfield Street would like to celebrate the new 4-way stop sign at the intersection of 9th and Garfield.

On November 30, without notice, the City changed the stop sign at 9th and Garfield from the north-south direction to the east-west direction. Commuters already use our narrow residential streets as speedy shortcuts. With a new lack of any traffic-calming measures for multiple intersections (busy 8th Avenue all the way to 11th Avenue at Teller Elementary), traffic volume and speeding skyrocketed.

We later learned that the revision was meant to assist Garfield’s designation as a bike route. Many of us commute daily on bikes or scooters, and we support cyclist access. However, removing traffic-calming measures and hoping cars won’t speed is naive. Also, as of 2022, Colorado law states that cyclists over age 15 may treat stop signs as yield signs then proceed under 10mph.

Through porch chats, group texts, emails, and calls, neighbors came together to get our voices heard. Christine Bayles Kortsch dropped off an old-fashioned letter to all the 800- and 900-block neighbors sharing concerns and a list of City contacts. James Dailey organized neighbors and he notes that “the key to driving the change was neighborhood participation and call volumes. We got virtually every resident on both blocks to email their council person, call 311, file tickets on Denver.gov and otherwise get the city’s attention. Going door to door and talking with your neighbors is the key to success here.” We also contacted administrators at Teller Elementary, who offered great support, as well as DOTI engineers and directors.

On January 23, we celebrated our new intersection, complete with crosswalks. As long-time residents Frank Scalise and Susan Bardwell commented, “Rather than complaining or feeling frustrated, it’s empowering to come together and make small changes that benefit our neighborhood.” We may feel powerless alone, but together we can keep Congress Park safe and beautiful for all who enjoy our accessible sidewalks, growing bike routes, charming old homes, and leafy streets.