Denver, Minneapolis Lead Nation in Open Streets for COVID Response

Denver now has more than 13 miles of streets closed to car traffic. Only Minneapolis has more.

1 minute read

April 6, 2020, 10:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Empty Streets

Kara Math / Shutterstock

"The city government will close segments of East 11th Avenue, Bryon Place, Stuart Street and East 16th Avenue to cars," reports David Sachs.

The plans to open streets for non-automotive transportation was announced by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Friday of last week, and the city began implementing changes over the weekend.

While Denver followed the lead of cities like Philadelphia in closing streets to cars to allow more space for pedestrians and people on bikes, the city of Denver now has more miles of open streets as a tactical response to the coronavirus pandemic than any other city. Tactical urbanism expert Mike Lydon is keeping track of the tally on a Google Spreadsheet, in case you also want to keep track at home.

The only city with more open streets than Denver, as noted in the spreadsheet: Minneapolis, with 18 miles of open streets.

Friday, April 3, 2020 in Denverite

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