DENVER — Construction along South Broadway between 7th and Center Avenue is finally complete.
The major bike lane construction project along South Broadway started back in October 2022 and was supposed to be completed in the fall of 2023, but city officials pushed the project until the spring of 2024 due to weather and underground utility work for the new infrastructure.
With delays on the project plus traffic, limited parking, and blocked sidewalks, some businesses noticed they were losing customers.
According to owner at Mutiny Information Café, Matt Megyesi, during that time-frame business at his coffee shop dropped 15%.
“Around April of 2023, they started construction outside to install bike lanes," Megyesi said. "They dug up the streets, took away parking, and we had a big hole in front of our shop for about 3 months. People didn’t know where to walk, they didn’t know where they could cross the street, they didn’t know where they could park, and it was difficult because the construction was right to the front of our shop.”
Fast forward to this year, businesses are hopeful that this new project and summer around the corner, it will bring both new and returning customers.
“We’re seeing business come back that we were seeing before the construction started, so we’re seeing similar numbers to April of 2023 that we didn’t see for the rest of last year,” said Megyesi.
The two-way bike lanes are protected by a concrete curb, in addition cyclists will also see new bike traffic signals along this corridor. Sidewalk improvements were also made for pedestrians to provide additional safety and for better bus stop access. In total the project cost more than $14 million.
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