Committee advances Mississippi Avenue Vision 0 package, seeks council review of $2.9M contract

Denver’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee received a briefing Feb. 18 on the Mississippi Avenue Vision 0 project and moved to refer Resolution 020121 — which would authorize a contract with Goodland Construction for $2,900,000 — to the full City Council for consideration.

DOTTI strategic advisor Elena McWhorter told the committee the project covers Mississippi Avenue between Elliott Street and Quivas and grew out of a Colorado Department of Transportation Safer Main Streets grant. McWhorter said a 2023 traffic assessment found about 109 crashes over four years across the corridor, with a concentration of pedestrian crashes near Raritan and Quivas. “We applied for this grant back in January 2020,” McWhorter said during the presentation, describing proposed changes including repurposing travel lanes to one lane each way, raised medians and pedestrian refuge islands, curb‑ramp upgrades to meet ADA standards, curb extensions and signal enhancements such as lead‑pedestrian intervals and rectangular rapid‑flashing beacons.

The administration told the committee the recommended contract price is $2.9 million, with CDOT providing approximately $2.1 million through the Safer Main Streets program and the city contributing about $800,000. Staff said, if approved, the city would seek a notice to proceed as early as late April or early May, with a contractor window of 365 days to reach substantial completion.

Council members pressed staff on several details. Councilwoman Flora Dvitres raised the length of the delay since the project’s grant application in 2020 and asked why the first procurement cycle in early 2025 received no bids; McWhorter said staff had to secure temporary construction easements and obtain an extension of grant timing from CDOT and that additional contractor outreach and marketing were undertaken before a successful second solicitation that drew eight proposals. “The delay seems very extreme,” Dvitres said, noting community turnover and the risk of earlier outreach becoming stale.

Other members asked for more granular traffic and safety data. Councilman Paul Casher asked for counts of how many vehicles exceed specific speed thresholds rather than 80th‑percentile speeds; DOTTI agreed to provide the requested distributions. Councilman Kevin Flynn sought clarification about whether the 7,800/6,800 figures shown were peak‑hour counts; a DOTTI technical staffer clarified those figures are average daily traffic and agreed to provide peak‑hour breakdowns and to clarify slide labels before the item goes to the floor.

Committee discussion touched on construction scope as well: members asked whether curb extensions and bulbouts would require street resurfacing or drainage relocation and whether the contract price covers such work. Technical staff said limited inlet relocation is possible but that major underground utility relocation was not included in the budgeted amount and that CDOT funds help cover concrete, gutter and drainage work in intersections.

Councilman Kevin Flynn moved to send the resolution to the full council; the motion was seconded on the floor but no roll‑call vote was recorded in the committee transcript. DOTTI staff said they will follow up with the committee on requested details — including precise speed‑threshold counts, right‑of‑way widths, comparisons to the Alameda project, and procurement/RFP specifics — before the full‑council consideration.

The committee then proceeded to a separate briefing on Alameda Avenue; the Mississippi Avenue resolution remains slated for full‑council action pending those follow‑ups.