OCTOBER 18, 2018
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DENVER
Elections 2018: State races inside
Since 1926
DENVER, COLORADO
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Get to know the state ballot measures Voters in November will rule on 13 state-level issues BY DAVID GILBERT DGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Kaewyn Picard and her son Tirion stand in her shop, Herbs and Arts on Colfax Avenue. Picard said she had safety concerns about moving bus stops into the middle of Colfax, which is one suggestion of the Colfax Corridor Connection plan. KAILYN LAMB
Revising Colfax’s blueprint City, residents hope new transit plan increases safety, lessens traffic woes BY KAILYN LAMB KLAMB@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Colfax Avenue has a reputation: It’s a hub for local music venues and home to longtime Denver restaurants. It’s the longest commercial street in the U.S. The urban myth that Playboy magazine once called it “the longest, wickedest street in America” has been woven into the street’s culture. Pedestrian safety, however, is not necessarily a word that comes to mind when you think of Colfax.
In fact, the road that stretches the entire length of the city, from its western border with Lakewood to the Aurora border in the east, is one of Denver’s worst streets for pedestrian-involved accidents, according to Jill Lacontore, executive director of Walk Denver, a pedestrian advocacy group that works with communities and city officials to find ways to make areas more friendly to walkers. Colfax is part of the city’s highinjury network, in which 5 percent of the streets in Denver account for about 50 percent of the fatalities, according to the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan, released in 2016 to help reduce pedestrian death and injury related to traffic accidents. Other streets in the network are Federal and Colorado boulevards.
Colorado voters will decide on 13 statelevel measures, addressing big issues like education and road funding, oil and gas setbacks, and congressional redistricting. The measures are of three types: numbered amendments begin as citizen initiatives, and would be added to the Colorado Constitution. They cannot be altered without another popular vote. Numbered propositions also begin as citizen initiatives, but if approved become state law, not constitutional amendments. Lettered amendments are created in the state Legislature and referred to voters for approval.
Lacontore, also chair of the city’s Vision Zero Coalition, has been attending community task force meetings held by the city to talk about the Colfax plan. The problem with Colfax, Lacontore said, is that it is designed like a highway and people often drive at high speeds when traffic allows for that. More often than not, Colfax is congested and traffic is forced onto side streets that aren’t built to handle the same amount of cars, she said. City officials hope its Colfax Corridor Connections plan — which will add designated bus lanes and higher frequency to routes to encourage more people to ride mass transit —will provide a solution.
Amendment 73: school funding Amendment 73 aims to create new revenue for public education by instituting a complex graduated income tax increase on individuals earning more than $150,000 a year, and increasing the corporate income tax rate from 4.63 percent to 6.0 percent. The measure would also fix residential property tax rates at 7.0 percent, preventing them from falling further due to the Gallagher Amendment. Proponents say the measure would generate $1.6 billion per year for public education in Colorado, which has seen reductions totaling $7.2 billion since 2010. Colorado’s schools suffer from underfunding, proponents say, leading to inadequate special education and mental health counseling, as well as increasing class sizes and other detrimental outcomes.
SEE COLFAX, P11
SEE BALLOT, P19
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
“It seems like we have been beaten up and then put in time-out for nine years and now wonder what the next decade will hold.” Patricia Kummer, columnist | Page 10 INSIDE
VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 14 VOLUME 91 | ISSUE 50