Join the Conversation About the 5280 Trail, a Bold Statement About Denver Values

As you enter the city offices in the Wellington E. Webb Building, you are greeted by a great quote: “What is the city but the people?” No other current project in our city embodies this quote more than the 5280 Trail. With overwhelming support in the Elevate Denver Bond election, voters fully funded the first segment of the trail, which fundamentally shifts the focus of select streets from cars and movement to a focus on people and the fostering of human connection.

The 5.280-mile trail is a visionary project that reimagines our streets as public spaces designed for people. More than a trail, it’s a bold statement about what Denver values. This trail is the physical manifestation of seven separate inner-city neighborhood plans, each calling for a center of place in their community. The loop it creates is not about commuting — no one commutes in a circle — but about connecting people across the city to share spaces together, learn from and engage with their city and each other.

This is a significant moment for Denver, with major efforts happening around the route. Acoma Street between 10th and 12th avenues is fully funded. Ball Arena is designing the portion that runs through its new neighborhood. Auraria Campus students have installed art along the route. Detailed design is well underway along the 21st Street segment, and neighbors along Sherman Street are exploring ways to start the design process there. After years of grassroots efforts, the 5280 Trail is finally coming together.

Please join the growing conversation. Check out the design vision at 5280Trail.com, and sign up for project updates at bit.ly/5280Acoma. While the next round of project meetings will happen this winter to discuss draft design concepts, we encourage everyone to express their ideas to the city and help make sure the design of this key first segment, and ultimately the entire 5280 Trail, prioritizes people and creates a place where families, children, and the entire community feel welcome and safe. In addition, we are hosting our next Coffee & Conversation with Councilman Chris Hinds on Thursday, November 21, at Huckleberry Roasters, 1800 Wazee Street, from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

Through a series of community meetings in 2016, residents expressed a strong desire for streets that serve people first. The 5280 Trail answers that call, rethinking our public shared assets — our streets — as places that foster connection, creativity and community. As we are ready to turn this vision into reality, it’s crucial that we remain true to these principles.

Another iconic image in Denver is on Colfax. There’s a mural that proclaims, “Streets are for the people.” Imagine a space where families can teach their kids to ride a bike, have a snowball fight on the street, or simply enjoy a safe and beautiful urban environment. Great urban places often take shape in the streets — spaces that belong to everyone, not just cars.

The 5280 Trail — and the Acoma segment — should be unlike anywhere else in Denver. If it looks and feels like a plaza, it will function as one, bringing people together and creating a vibrant public realm. If it looks and feels like a street, it will function as one, meaning we will still have all the noise, danger and traffic that comes with a street.

This is our opportunity to design a trail that shines as a premier public space — a space that attracts people, fosters community and connects our diverse neighborhoods. A trail that empowers people to explore our city and to meet people they might otherwise never have met. A place where residents can feel like tourists exploring their city and where tourists can feel like residents going to the heart of our city. This is our opportunity to make a statement about who and what we value as a city. And this is our opportunity to lean into health, people, place and community.

Our focus must be on designing a trail that shines as a premier public space -– a space that accomplishes all of these opportunities in a public realm. Take a ride with us as we transform a part of Denver away from cars and toward community, a ride that is safe and accessible for anyone ages five to eighty.

Chris Hinds is the Denver City Council representative for District 10. Jon Buerge is the president of Urban Villages.

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