Denver DOTI outlines 2026 budget priorities, service impacts and program rollouts

Denver — The Department of Transportation & Infrastructure (DOTI) told the City Council budget committee on Sept. 26 that its 2026 budget preserves core services such as solid-waste pickup, snow removal and project delivery while bearing staffing reductions, shifted vacancies and program reorganizations that will slow some response times.

DOTI Executive Director Amy Ford said the department’s operating budget for 2026 is roughly $426,000,000 and that leaders prioritized keeping frontline services intact even as vacancy reductions and a small number of layoffs required reorganizing deputy roles and moving some personnel into enterprise funds. "We went in and we looked at crucial and critical services. We did not touch our solid waste programs," Ford said. "We did not lay off project delivery personnel. We did not lay off program managers. We did not lay off construction managers."

The department presented specific program effects, near-term goals and follow-ups requested by council members. DOTI officials emphasized three priorities: maintain core delivery of daily services, protect project delivery so key capital projects reach completion, and align investments with equity zones and climate goals.

What DOTI will continue and what will change

Ford said DOTI preserved trash collection and snow removal and is maintaining most frontline operations, while reallocating or eliminating some vacant supervisory and administrative positions. She told the committee DOTI aims to "start 6 projects and open 16 projects" in the coming cycle and cited partial openings anticipated next year for Colfax Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the I‑25/Broadway corridor.

The presentation included multiple program-level numbers and near-term service effects: DOTI reported a 99% solid-waste route completion rate for the current year (exceeding an earlier 95% goal), a fleet equipment availability of about 77%, and an estimated pavement condition index near the mid-70s. Capital maintenance in the budget was listed at about $81,000,000 with a roughly $7,000,000 increase targeted to paving preservation. DOTI also said 75% of its mapped capital projects are in the city’s equity zones.

Sidewalk fund rollout and pace

DOTI told the committee it began collecting sidewalk fees this year and expects annual revenue in a full year cycle of roughly $37,000,000 (the partial-year receipts were described as about $28,000,000). Ford…