The removable paint on East Alameda Avenue has been down since about August 10, 2026, and Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure plans to keep it there until early 2027. Whether any of it becomes permanent depends on DOTI's evaluation framework, and half of that framework is about streets other than Alameda. Virginia Avenue, 1st Avenue, Cedar, Bayaud, Pearl and several quieter blocks each have a recorded "before" number. Two of the city's three stated objectives will be scored partly through a community survey that DOTI's baseline document still lists as "TBD."

So if you live a block or two off Alameda, your street is part of the test.

What the Paint Changed, and What Stays Regardless

The demonstration narrows Alameda to one travel lane in each direction and adds dedicated left-turn pockets over roughly a mile. Franklin Street is the eastern end. The western end differs by source. DOTI's project index and Denverite's August coverage say Lincoln Street, while DOTI's April working-group deck and 9NEWS say Pennsylvania Street. The deck notes the limits were extended to the original lane-reduction stretch after feedback from the working group.

Some elements are on trial and some are not. According to DOTI and 9NEWS, these pieces are permanent whatever the data shows:

• A new pedestrian crossing with a rapid-flashing beacon and refuge island at Franklin Street and Alameda
• A speed limit cut from 30 mph to 25 mph between Broadway and University Boulevard
• Updated school-zone markings from Broadway to Logan Street
• Left-turn signals, marked crosswalks and access-management treatments
• Signal and bulb-out work at Virginia Avenue and Downing Street, which DOTI's project page lists as complete

The lane reduction, the turn pockets, the flex-post refuge islands, mid-block parking and a pedestrian buffer from Emerson to Franklin are demonstration features that could still change. The project adds no bike lane on Alameda itself. Bicycle work is limited to protected approaches and green markings where bike routes cross. The Denver Gazette reported that the demonstration includes no speed cameras, which DOTI said would need further City Council review.

The Alameda Baseline, and the Turn It Points To

DOTI's baseline counts 214 crashes on the corridor over four years, with three serious bodily injuries and no fatalities. The type of crash matters more than the total. Front-to-side approach-turn crashes made up 40 percent, rear-end crashes 21 percent, sideswipes 15 percent and head-on crashes 7 percent. Approach-turn crashes are the left turn across oncoming traffic, which is the movement turn pockets are designed to isolate. City field observers also logged frequent abrupt lane changes at almost every spot where left turns are allowed. They recorded left-turn near misses at Clarkson, at a driveway west of Marion and at Lafayette, where gaps were short.

Speed is the second measure. Before the change, the 85th-percentile speed was 33 to 36 mph, above the old 30 mph limit and well above the new 25. The fastest drivers were clocked at 58 to 71 mph, and DOTI found the speeding wasn't specific to any time of day. DOTI's project page says its analysis shows a center turn lane could cut crashes in the project area by up to 25 percent.

The Numbers a Block Away

One figure in the baseline changes how the corridor looks. Virginia Avenue between Lincoln and Franklin, the parallel residential street, recorded 43 crashes over the same four-year window. That's about a fifth of Alameda's total, but it includes four serious bodily injuries, one more than Alameda's three. Three were bicycle crashes and two involved pedestrians. That's why DOTI's second safety question asks whether the project kept impacts from spilling onto Virginia, 1st and the side streets. Whether Alameda gets safer is only half of it.

The city also recorded daily traffic volumes on the surrounding streets before the paint went down. These are the figures the demonstration will be compared against:

DOTI estimates that no more than 5 percent of vehicles will reroute over a full day. On a street like Corona, starting from 250 cars a day, even a small share of Alameda's traffic would be a large percentage change.

Field notes from the baseline describe conditions that drivers on these blocks will recognize. Westbound queues at Virginia and Downing stretched back to Marion. Northbound left turns at Cedar and Downing blocked through traffic, and southbound queues backed up through Cedar and Bayaud. The city also measures gaps for drivers turning onto Alameda from side streets. The baseline had no field notes showing poor gap availability during peak hour, and the demonstration will be checked against that. Modeled peak travel times for the corridor were 202 to 223 seconds in the morning and 232 to 247 seconds in the evening, roughly three and a half to four minutes.

How the Grading Is Scheduled

9NEWS reported that formal evaluation begins three months after the demonstration starts, with a fuller data review nine months after that. Counting from the August 10 launch:

1. Around November 2026. Formal evaluation is due to begin. DOTI notes that a normalized six-month crash pull gives only a preliminary safety picture and has to be supplemented with speed data and field observations.
2. Early 2027. DOTI has said it expects the removable paint to stay in place until about this point.
3. Winter and spring 2027. DOTI's schedule calls for data assessment and community surveys.
4. Summer 2027. DOTI expects to issue recommendations and next steps.

The survey stage is where resident experience formally counts. DOTI's third objective asks whether the project made Alameda, Virginia, 1st and the side streets more comfortable, and the survey is the only way that objective is measured.

The Sensor DOTI Won't Count

Jamie Rooney lives on the Alameda stretch, and he isn't waiting for winter. He and his wife paid $263 for a Telraam sensor, made by a Belgian company, which hangs at the front of their home. It counts and clocks every car, truck and pedestrian passing in both directions. Rooney told 9NEWS his readings already show speeds falling.

DOTI has said it won't use that data. Spokesperson Nancy Kuhn explained why to 9NEWS:

"While it is a data point, we will be relying on the data from our professional services design team to make decisions. Their counting devices are industry standard, calibrated and consistent with our 'before' data. We need to be consistent with our data sources."

The reasoning comes from the baseline. The numbers in the table above were gathered with the city's own instruments, and DOTI wants the after-numbers collected the same way. Readings from a resident's device won't become part of the record. The survey responses will.

The Neighborhood Positions on File

The test follows a long split in the neighborhood. Denverite has described tense town halls, two separate petitions and resignations from a citizen advisory board. A group of neighbors lobbied against the road diet. On February 11, 2026, the West Washington Park Neighborhood Association and the Washington Park East Neighborhood Association wrote jointly in support of the original full lane-repurposing plan. They asked DOTI to test it across the whole corridor and cited a petition with 1,200 signatures, 70 percent of them from West and East Washington Park. DOTI told City Council that same month that it would install the original design temporarily.

WPENA's next annual meeting is October 13, 2026, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Wash Park United Methodist Church, 1955 E. Arizona Ave. The agenda includes board elections and updates from local representatives and committees. DOTI's Alameda Lane Repurposing project page is where the schedule and survey details will be posted. Its timeline still listed full deployment for "end of Summer" after the paint was already down, so recent news coverage is the better guide to where things stand.

Changes to the streets around Alameda, like Virginia and Cedar, will show up in how Wash Park blocks feel and get talked about long before any final decision in summer 2027. Ben and Erin at Rule Properties follow corridor decisions like this one block by block. If you'd like to talk about what a changing street means for your home, connect with Ben & Erin for a tailored market valuation.