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Around 400,000 parking citations have been written in Denver since the beginning of 2018. Of that staggering total, nearly 40 percent pertain to alleged violations on just 25 streets, most of which cut through downtown.
The Denver Department of Public Works responded to our request for information about the most ticketed locations in the city so far this year with an enormous data dump. We received documentation of 368,937 citations handed out between January 1 and September 9.
Making sense of these facts and figures proved a challenge to the math-challenged Westword staff. But spreadsheet expert Siyi Tu came to our rescue and earned our eternal gratitude.
The streets named on the most citations will be familiar to most Denverites, and particularly downtown dwellers: They include Grant, Logan, Lincoln, Broadway, Larimer and plenty of other iconic routes. The 25th-most-ticketed street was the locale for more than 3,700 — a figure dwarfed by the total on the number-one street, which exceeds 12,000.
The cumulative sum of tickets for the top 25 streets during the aforementioned range is 146,230. That's about 39.6 percent of the citations written in 2018 through September's first nine days.
These digits confirm that city parking monitors downtown are constantly on the lookout for violators — and if you don't get back to your meter before time expires, you should expect to pay.
How much? We've included a current list of parking fine amounts following a list of the 25 most-ticketed streets in Denver, ranked in descending order and including the number of citations on each.
Number 25: Grant Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 3,726
Number 24: Arapahoe Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 3,818
Number 23: Pennsylvania Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 3,852
Number 22: Logan Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 3,873
Number 21: Detroit Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 3,928
Number 20: Lincoln Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 3,966
Number 19: 2nd Avenue
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 4,041
Number 18: Platte Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 4,554
Number 17: 19th Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 4,585
Number 16: Tremont Place
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 4,707
Number 15: Wynkoop Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 4,966
Number 14: 17th Avenue
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 5,083
Number 13: Third Avenue
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 5,447
Number 12: Curtis Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 5,501
Number 11: Welton Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 5,803
Number 10: Sherman Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 5,976
Number 9: Champa Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 6,070
Number 8: Broadway
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 6,580
Number 7: Wazee Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 6,865
Number 6: Lawrence Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 7,200
Number 5: 14th Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 7,265
Number 4: Glenarm Place
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 7,285
Number 3: Blake Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 8,118
Number 2: Larimer Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 10,275
Number 1: Market Street
Number of citations in 2018 through September 9: 12,746
Denver Parking Fines, September 2018:
METER VIOLATION: $25.00
PARKING TOW-AWAY ZONE: $50.00
LICENSE PLATE: $75.00
WITHIN 10 FT FIRE HYDRANT: $75.00
SIDEWALK AREA: $25.00
EXCESS OF 72 HRS: $25.00
AGAINST TRAFFIC FLOW: $25.00
BIKE LANE OBSTRUCTION: $25.00
LESS THAN 5FT ALLEY/DRIVEWAY: $25.00
OVERTIME PARK NON-METER: $25.00
LOADING ONLY: $25.00
OTHER PROHIBIT PARKING: $25.00
DOUBLE PARKING: $25.00
ALLEY PARKING: $25.00
PARK BY FIRE HYDRANT: $25.00
HANDICAP PARK ONLY: $150.00
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