Havana St. in Stapleton has had many issues over the years. One way signs were often ignored and before it became a through-street, Aurorans still attempted to use it as one. Then of course, there are all of the construction issues by the jail. The most recent issue may have been solved, however.
Eastbridge residents were concerned about the potential traffic increase, specifically that of Aurorans flying through the pristine Eastbridge neighborhood to get to Aurora. That issue never did come to fruition, however. The problem that did surface was even greater. “What we saw was an incredible increase in bike traffic,” said Havana St. resident Dave Battenfield. “It almost seemed like there were less cars, maybe because they weren’t turning around and coming back the other direction. But the bike traffic became too much to bear. It wasn’t safe with all the kids in the neighborhood.”
Forest City and the City of Denver listened to the local residents, and made a significant change. “We realized there was way too much road,” said Denver Traffic Engineer Liam O’Hara. “There weren’t enough cars to warrant a two lane road. However, the bike traffic on Havana was overwhelming, so we looked to solve that problem.” Engineers decided to keep the two parking areas in front of the homes, reduce the vehicle lane down to one, and create two bike lanes. “We have already noticed a big change in the bike traffic flow,” said Battenfield. “This road is much safer now.” For now, residents seem happy with the solution. “The bike traffic flow definitely seems better,” said Battenfield. “But the real test will be in the spring when biking kind of picks up again.”
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