DRCOG presents Sheridan Boulevard safety study: 4,000 crashes in five years, recommends medians and targeted fixes

DRCOG staff presented findings from the Sheridan Boulevard corridor safety study, a corridor‑planning project focused on a roughly 10‑mile stretch identified as part of the region’s high‑injury network.

Nora Kern, the program manager leading the study, reported that the five‑year crash analysis showed more than 4,000 collisions, 152 serious injuries and 17 fatalities. She emphasized that while most travel on the corridor is by car, a disproportionate share of the most serious crashes involved people walking, biking or riding motorcycles.

The study developed corridor‑wide recommendations (lighting, repaving, signal retiming, and a recommendation to add medians or a hard centerline for much of the corridor) and produced site‑specific recommendations at 25 high‑crash locations. Staff highlighted two early‑action intersections (Sheridan & 14th; Sheridan & Jewel) where the project prepared more advanced designs to support grant applications. The team also worked with Wheat Ridge to implement restriping improvements at one intersection as an immediate, actionable step.

Kern described challenges: the corridor’s multi‑jurisdictional nature (it borders seven cities and three counties), narrow right‑of‑way and poor sidewalk continuity, which limit some interventions. Next steps include convening police partners, pursuing grant funding (for example, Safe Streets for All), preparing grant applications for a larger median project, and helping local jurisdictions integrate recommendations into their project pipelines.