"You're forced to mix in with traffic, and that doesn't feel good," she says. "It's a serious annoyance."
Construction on West Alameda Avenue near South Platte River Drive forces Brown to detour through an industrial area where big trucks block the bike lanes. When passing businesses, she swings around delivery trucks backed into bike lanes as drivers unload cargo into stores. On her way home, she's bound to find Uber and Lyft drivers parked in bike lanes while picking up passengers.
Brown worries that blocked bike lanes will turn residents off from biking as they continue continue driving cars around town.
"There are a lot of people who would like to ride their bike more, but don't feel comfortable because of traffic," she says. "If someone brings their kids into a bike lane because it's safer, but there's something in there that's forcing you and your kids out into traffic, that's going to have a real dampening effect on people wanting alternative modes of transportation."
"I realized there wasn't much that a bicyclist could do," Whitehouse says. "The issue of bike lane safety and just the dangers that the bicycling community is facing, that's something we're trying to find any and all opportunities to start to chip away at and unravel that problem."
The number of reported obstructions in Denver is "exploding" this year, according to Whitehouse.
"Denver is coming in quite strong into the database" she adds.
Over 79 percent of the bike lane obstructions in Denver currently listed on the app are vehicles, according to Bike Lane Uprising, and the vehicles are closely split between commercial and personal. (About 9 percent of the obstructions are city-owned vehicles.)
Like Brown, Whitehouse worries that cyclists often try to get around obstructions by taking chances in the car lane, which puts lives at risk.
"It forces bicyclists into traffic to get around whatever's in their bike lanes," she says. "And that's what will lead to fatalities."
"Denver is coming in quite strong into the database" she adds.
Cars, waste bins, glass, potholes, flooding and construction are a slice of what local cyclists have recorded on the Bike Lane Uprising app, Whitehouse says, with more than 400 obstructions recorded on the app's Denver database.
Most of the obstructions are downtown, with a handful of hot spots on Wynkoop Street near its intersection with the 16th Street Mall. Clusters of reported obstructions can also be found in northwest Denver, along West 29th and West 23rd avenues, and in Park Hall along East 35th Avenue.
Most of the obstructions are downtown, with a handful of hot spots on Wynkoop Street near its intersection with the 16th Street Mall. Clusters of reported obstructions can also be found in northwest Denver, along West 29th and West 23rd avenues, and in Park Hall along East 35th Avenue.
A recent user-submitted photo of a FedEx truck blocking a bike lane in downtown Denver.
thingsinbikelanesdenver.com
Like Brown, Whitehouse worries that cyclists often try to get around obstructions by taking chances in the car lane, which puts lives at risk.
"It forces bicyclists into traffic to get around whatever's in their bike lanes," she says. "And that's what will lead to fatalities."
Nationwide, the number of people who die while riding their bike has been increasing, according to the Centers for Disease Control, with about 900 such deaths reported in 2014 and about 1,400 reported in 2023.
Meanwhile, the City of Denver has recorded a handful of bicycle deaths each year during the past decade, including two last year and three in 2023, according to the Denver Medical Examiner's Office. Since 2013, the city has recorded 37 bicycle deaths and more than 400 serious injuries to people on bikes. Statewide, more than a dozen bicyclist deaths are recorded each year, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
For Brown, the city should be responsible for clearing up confusion that leads to blocked bike lanes.
"I don't think people are intentionally saying, 'Hey, I'm going to block this bike lane with this recycle bin,'" Brown says. "I think they feel like, 'Well, there's nowhere for me to put it.' [Do I] put it in between cars? That's a DOTI question, for sure."
According to Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) spokeswoman Nancy Kuhn, residents are responsible for leaving space for cyclists and cars, although it "can be a bit of a challenge, as we have many competing demands for use of space on the street."
"We would ask solid waste customers to be mindful, doing their best to place their cart on the street in a way that keeps the bike lane as clear as possible. Any carts placed between cars need to have a minimum of two feet of clear space on each side of the cart," Khun adds.
Denver bicyclists can report obstructions in their lanes to DOTI by calling 311. The city will send inspectors and can write tickets for blocking bike lanes, according to the department. Last year DOTI issued almost 540 tickets for drivers blocking bike lanes, according to Kuhn.
"DOTI takes the blocking of bike lanes seriously," she says. "Our parking enforcement agents will write tickets when they see it happening."
Brown just wishes city enforcement agents would stop more of the obstruction she sees everyday.
"I'd like to be able to ride my bike without my family having to worry if I'm going to be all right," she says. "I'd like to see more people getting out there and taking advantage of our great sunny weather and the infrastructure that's out there. We've just got to keep the pressure on the city to continue building out great infrastructure that makes it safer for everybody."
