Thursday, September 24, 2026, 9 a.m. (Denver time), Parr-Widener Community Room, Room 389
This Budget Hearings meeting focused on the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) proposed 2027 budget. DOTI executive director Amy and staff presented capital maintenance programs (asphalt, bridges, signals), capital discretionary investments across safety, transit, traffic calming, pedestrian crossings, bike and signal programs, and the sidewalk enterprise funded by the sidewalk fee. Council members questioned the balance between personnel costs and capital investment, safe routes to school funding and staffing, fatal crashes on 17th Avenue Parkway and Santa Fe, paving positions, micromobility/scooter compliance, the transportation revenue fund, and fuel costs. No vote was taken during this hearing.
0:37 Welcome day are so grateful
0:39 for all the information. Think
0:43 you to everyone working so
0:44 Zimmerman tonight all workers
0:47 that helping make have really
0:51 excited to kick things off
0:52 with the closer elections.
0:54 Main aim is. But does it have
0:56 on are chairing Transportation
0:59 Infrastructure Committee. I
1:06 represent Lucky District and
1:10 mentioned property tines
1:11 difference. Complain south was
1:13 communication them. Often
1:15 there's projects Brockway from
1:16 the plant's, be for and you
1:18 got and is only Mansour
1:21 district. I Well, need
1:23 financial probably have people
1:24 trickling in. But I'll go to
1:25 my virtual friends. If you
1:31 want to introduce yourselves,
1:34 everybody West Denver district
1:35 3 Paul Kashmann South Denver
1:41 district My Charleston mayor,
1:47 aka back also one of our
1:48 council member Butler Building
1:49 being to go ahead and take it
1:58 or or And with excited to here
2:00 and I am Amy for the executive
2:02 director of Daddy. I just
2:05 wanted to premises by saying
2:07 thank and COUNCILWOMAN Abbe
2:08 and council now mayor of
2:11 Kabul. We actually appreciate
2:12 the opportunity to have had
2:15 dot the split over the last
2:16 couple of Sessions. I think
2:18 there's value in capacity to
2:19 sort of have a deeper
2:21 conversation about some of the
2:22 areas that we cover. Yeah. And
2:23 and I think that's really
2:25 resulted in some excellent
2:26 conversation and discussion.
2:27 And so today we're really
2:29 looking forward to digging in
2:30 transportation, which was hot
2:34 topic, even yes, mission just
2:35 say this. I have went out on
2:36 hot topic on Tuesday and we're
2:37 looking forward to addressing
2:37 maybe some of those questions
2:40 here in this presentation. And
2:42 we will also prove to be
2:44 expedient. So it leaves a
2:44 number of China took minutes
2:45 for those questions. For
2:49 follow-up from you just too.
2:51 Go back through a one of the
2:52 things in the one of the
2:53 questions to come. And so we
2:54 do have this in our slides was
2:56 a question about the
2:58 differentiation between our
3:00 general funds and wastewater
3:02 and others in the allocations
3:03 across our different programs
3:04 and so council on us or you're
3:06 obviously this was a question
3:07 that you had asked. And so we
3:08 wanted to be responsive in
3:11 that. We're not to spend a lot
3:11 of time looking at this, but
3:13 we're happy to dive into that.
3:15 We will also be sending this
3:16 information to you. Also, you
3:17 have it. So this is the
3:19 general fund allocation, if
3:21 you will, across the number of
3:22 different programs that we
3:23 have. And so that includes
3:26 personnel or service Inc
3:26 flies. So for those totals and
3:27 the general fund, so you can
3:30 see the allocation to right of
3:30 way enforce mental how we
3:32 handle operations are graffiti
3:36 team, for instance. And then
3:37 we wanted to be able to
3:38 provide that information. Is
3:41 we then drove talking about
3:42 transportation today. So
3:43 again, we would be remiss if
3:44 we did not focus on our
3:45 vision, which is about quality
3:47 of life and how we deliver the
3:48 services that are seen and
3:50 unseen to ensure the Denver
3:52 keeps moving. And today and no
3:55 more is the transportation
3:57 focus. We wanted to hit that
3:59 section because we wanted
4:00 frame out just the scope of
4:02 what we do when we sit, we
4:03 look at this city. But how
4:05 does that translate into stats
4:06 and assets and things like
4:08 this? Because we're going to
4:09 spend a lot of time talking as
4:10 we all know about both our
4:12 transportation operations and
4:14 our maintenance and how we
4:15 manage and take care and
4:16 preserve the system that we
4:18 have built. And then we're
4:18 going to talk about how do we
4:20 continue to enhance and build
4:22 the system to a drive to
4:24 articles of safety and
4:26 mobility and sustainability.
4:28 And so when we said we talk
4:32 about the 75,000 street signs
4:33 and the nearly 3,000 street
4:33 lights and the nearly 3,000
4:35 miles of roadway and the
4:37 nearly 3,000 miles of sidewalk
4:38 in the system. All of those
4:39 are fed by a combination of
4:41 sources, both here in Denver,
4:45 federal and otherwise citizens
4:47 voted to agree that they would
4:48 like to tax themselves, assess
4:50 fees to take care of some of
4:51 these systems. And we're
4:51 grateful for the
4:52 responsibility to be able to
4:56 manage all of Again, we talk
4:58 about our capital programs. We
4:59 also want to frame out again
5:01 what investment means. And so
5:04 what we talked about it on
5:05 Tuesday, investment in capital
5:08 means investment, an operation
5:09 and that operation is what at
5:10 the core, again of our budget
5:12 philosophy and what we want to
5:12 accomplish and how we protect
5:15 those core services, how we
5:17 continue to preserve those
5:19 assets, how the staff who are
5:21 responsible for the work
5:22 translate to the services that
5:24 we deliver, that people see
5:25 every day and sometimes see
5:27 overnight and the world that
5:30 we do on how we maintain that
5:31 workforce capacity to be able
5:32 to deliver the best quality
5:35 system that we can. So when we
5:36 talk about her transportation
5:38 budget today, it is focused in
5:39 the capital and we're going to
5:40 talk about with our capital
5:41 maintenance program as well as
5:42 some of the services that you
5:45 see on top of that and our
5:46 capital discretionary
5:47 programs. We're going to take
5:48 a deep dive into each of
5:49 these. So I will not take the
5:51 time to run through them. But,
5:53 you know, they are infused
5:54 always with our values that we
5:56 hold dear, which is number one
5:59 safety. How do we create
6:01 development system that people
6:03 arrive alive and what is our
6:04 focus and ensuring that we can
6:05 continue to drive safety
6:07 through the entirety of our
6:09 transportation system,
6:10 mobility and mobility choice
6:10 and how we continue to drive
6:12 access and program and how do
6:14 we continue to think about how
6:15 that fits together in the
6:18 maintenance of our system. So
6:20 we also wanted to be able to
6:20 frame since this conversation
6:22 came up as we last presented
6:23 to 10 and others is where do
6:25 we get our money from? He has.
6:27 The city budget is a critical
6:28 element of our capital
6:29 programming. But it is not the
6:31 only element of our capital
6:33 programming. So we also do
6:33 receive funds from federal
6:35 programs and federal grants as
6:36 well as different issues like
6:39 the bond program. And so this
6:40 again frame some of that
6:42 historical approach to how we
6:42 look at and how we fund
6:47 transportation. Equally. So we
6:49 wanted to talk about staff,
6:49 the services to the people who
6:51 deliver the services that you
6:54 see to the right to start 2026
6:55 stuff coverages. That cloak a
6:57 says across a variety of areas
7:00 from on forsman teams to our
7:00 operations teams to our
7:01 planning and our delivery
7:03 groups to our project managers
7:05 and others. And I just this
7:05 last time on Tuesday and
7:06 address it again. The
7:08 questions often also to our do
7:09 you have enough staff to do
7:12 what you want to do and the
7:13 answer for that question right
7:16 now is that we absolutely of
7:17 in calibrating our programming
7:19 with the staff that we have
7:20 and the level of projects and
7:23 investment that we're making
7:24 and spending quite a bit of
7:25 time on the refinement as we
7:27 talked about with
7:27 organizational structure and
7:28 our focus and for instance,
7:29 adding team members and and
7:31 shifting and concentrating,
7:32 for instance, we have team
7:33 who's represented in the back
7:34 who is now focused on our
7:37 safety engineering programs,
7:39 our team who are dedicated to
7:42 the work that we do with safe
7:42 routes to schools and vision
7:44 0. And so how we align those
7:45 services and that staff who
7:46 really are the heart of the
7:47 beating heart of something
7:48 that we've spent quite a bit
7:51 of time focusing on. So I
7:52 mentioned before those
7:53 transportation goals and you
7:53 all know that they are
7:55 grounded in Denver, moves
7:58 everyone. And while we see the
7:59 goals and priorities of
8:00 mobility and safety and how we
8:02 build community and the
8:04 endgame of where we'd like to
8:05 go by 2050. It's an Exxon
8:06 conversations about that in
8:09 10. I wanted to give you a
8:09 sense again of how we have
8:12 been doing over the last year.
8:13 Plus, in addressing some of
8:15 those priorities and goals. So
8:17 when our mobility side right
8:21 now, we're staying about
8:22 consistent. So we are working
8:23 on mode shifts and how we just
8:26 thinking about how people
8:27 travel from biking to school
8:29 during to walking to riding
8:30 transit to driving
8:31 individually. Right now we
8:33 have seen a growth in certain
8:35 areas where we have made
8:36 investments in things like
8:37 bike lanes and others
8:39 downtown, for instance,
8:40 Montbello area others. And so
8:42 we're very excited about that.
8:43 But for others and other
8:44 areas, we see consistent sort
8:45 of standards in regards to
8:49 things like not obviously in
8:50 safety. And you heard a little
8:52 bit about this yesterday and
8:54 dpd presentation. We are
8:55 seeing a decrease right now in
8:56 our fatalities excited about
8:59 that and cautious about that
9:00 as well. But I wanted to share
9:02 with you sort of the year to
9:03 date schedule of that and what
9:04 that looks like. You know, as
9:08 of a week or so we are at 47
9:09 traffic fatalities compared to
9:10 last year where we were at
9:13 around. 55. And I think that
9:14 is attributed in part to the
9:16 continued investment that we
9:17 have infrastructure and safety
9:18 and safety programs to
9:19 continued collaboration. Tea
9:20 Party on enforcement
9:22 activities and others. And and
9:25 it is still not good enough.
9:28 So we still strive as we We
9:28 talk a little bit about our
9:29 sustainability and you can see
9:31 as we go through the rest of
9:33 these, we continue to see a
9:34 decrease in some of our
9:35 motorized trips. We are adding
9:36 are we talked about this last
9:38 time at our tv programs and
9:40 equally. So as we're starting
9:41 to look, we'll talk more about
9:43 sidewalks today, but how we
9:44 see improvements to sidewalks,
9:45 which are critical element of
9:47 how we think about mobility, a
9:50 mode with over 80 miles of
9:51 sidewalks that have been
9:52 improved. And 25 and we'll
9:52 talk a little bit about more
9:55 about what's coming. Talked
9:56 about bridges and signals and
9:58 We're gonna get more into
10:00 that. Last thing I wanted to
10:00 hit before. We really did a
10:04 deep dive is how does the
10:04 project become a project that
10:05 I know that sounds rather
10:07 put-down take that we wanted
10:07 to sort of frame outside of
10:08 the structure of how goes to
10:11 work when it comes to our
10:12 transportation system. So we
10:13 are guided as always by our
10:15 North star, which is Denver
10:17 moves. Everyone and equally.
10:19 So our north star Vision, 0
10:22 those things then turned
10:23 themselves into So we take
10:24 those efforts and we're it
10:25 then that them into citywide
10:28 plans and action plans area
10:29 plans for different programs
10:31 such as safe routes to schools
10:31 or our community
10:33 Transportation network and
10:36 others. Those plans then are
10:38 translated through our budget
10:39 program and they are
10:41 translated into different ways
10:42 tackle the problems. The
10:43 solutions that drive to the
10:46 plants. So that's what we're
10:46 going to talk about today.
10:47 You're going to hear us talk
10:49 about traffic calming. You're
10:49 gonna hear us talking about
10:50 pet intersections. You're
10:51 gonna be tearing us. Talk
10:53 about transit investments and
10:53 bikeway investments and
10:55 others. And that is where the
10:57 money sets. But we also heard
10:58 2 very loud and clear that you
11:00 wanted to understand how those
11:01 ruled up to address the plans.
11:04 So how much money are you
11:04 really investing and safe
11:06 routes to schools? How much
11:07 money really gets invested in
11:08 Vision, 0. And so we've got
11:09 that to to present and be able
11:11 to share that. It delivers.
11:14 Then in a project. And then we
11:15 always assess the outcomes
11:16 because we are constantly
11:17 evolving and moving
11:19 organization. What we MAY put
11:21 in the ground 10 years ago MAY
11:23 be adjusted and adapted and
11:24 changed and shifted as we
11:25 develop new tools in our tool
11:28 box. New modes conditions
11:29 change in the system. And so
11:29 those are always things that
11:32 we're looking at. All right.
11:33 I'm gonna take it to Cindy's
11:34 so she can talk about capital
11:37 maintenance. Her favorite
11:43 exciting topic and she is
11:46 sands prop today. So we right
11:48 here how low parked the
11:49 vehicle that yeah, we can
11:51 through the door. I'm good
11:53 morning. I'm back. It is my
11:56 birthday and to celebrate. I
11:59 would like to talk about
12:01 capital a case. I want to
12:02 spend a minute here because
12:04 capital maintenance is the
12:06 largest allocation in our
12:07 transportation capital budget.
12:09 And I think it should be. We
12:10 spent a lot of time talking
12:12 about what we're going to
12:16 build next. But Denver already
12:17 owns this huge, enormous,
12:18 seeing out in the
12:18 transportation, this town that
12:21 is there in the wild. It's
12:23 there every single day. It's
12:24 getting snowed on. Walk. Is
12:26 getting driven It gets hot. It
12:27 gets cold. Gets hit by all
12:30 manner of things. And once we
12:31 build this thing, it's still
12:34 has to have that attention on
12:35 it for the rest of its life.
12:36 Right? There is no set it and
12:39 forget it as much as we wish
12:40 it would. It never happens
12:41 ever that we can walk away and
12:42 that's why you see the scale
12:44 of these investments in front
12:45 of you. 31.4 million dollars
12:51 for asphalt. 26 23 for bridge.
12:51 10 million for comedy. And so
12:55 the night super glamorous, we
12:56 nobody has a ribbon. When I
12:57 replace a signal pole with a
13:00 hole in it, balloons fall from
13:02 my sky. But no one makes a big
13:02 deal about that. But it's our
13:04 bread and butter that that's