Why the Cherry Creek Trail Along 1st Avenue Feels So Tight, and Which Fix Is Coming First

Denver's standard for a regional trail is 12 feet wide. The Cherry Creek Trail along the south side of 1st Avenue, between Downing Street and University Boulevard, is 8 to 9 feet wide. On the city's own planning boards, this mile on the Country Club side of 1st Avenue is labeled the "Narrowest Cherry Creek Trail." The same boards say the trail carries 600,000 users a year.

The city has a design that would fix it. The trouble is money. Of the two projects proposed for this stretch, the wider trail has no funding to move past its current phase. The corner at 1st and University has $5.7 million and a target finish date of 2028. So the first city improvement on the neighborhood's northern edge will come at its eastern corner, and the city says it will coordinate that work with the Cherry Creek West construction site across the street.

Eight Feet of Trail, Three Lanes, and No Curb Between Them

The Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) presented the corridor at a November 2025 public meeting. Its existing cross-section shows the trail attached to the street, with nothing upright separating it from three lanes of traffic. In winter, plowed snow gets pushed to the edge of the road and spills onto the sidewalk, which makes the usable trail even narrower.

The preferred redesign takes the extra space from the planted median. The existing roadway pavement stays where it is.

According to DOTI, the curb-and-tree buffer would also give snow somewhere to go besides the trail. The south side of this stretch of 1st Avenue mostly lacks the tree lawn that the north side already has. The city points out that adding one would bring the street closer to Denver's historic parkway guidelines.

Every Cheaper Option Was Studied and Rejected

The project's FAQ explains why the fix has to be a reconstruction. DOTI looked at a series of cheaper or simpler options, and each one fell short.

• Jersey barriers: City standards require two feet of space between a travel lane and a barrier, so the barrier would have to sit on the trail. That would leave about 6 feet to walk and ride on.
• Moving the curb a little north: The lanes leave only about 1.5 feet to work with. The trail would end up 9.5 to 10 feet wide, still short of standard, and the job would still require rebuilding the curb, sidewalk and drainage.
• Removing an eastbound lane: DOTI calls 1st Avenue "one of the busiest streets in Denver" and plans it as a future bus rapid transit corridor. Losing a lane would make that difficult or impossible.
• Moving the trail to the north side of 1st Avenue: This would add 8 to 10 new conflict points at cross streets. It could also require changes to the Downing Street bridge, which is in good condition.
• Widening into Denver Country Club property: Buying the land would be expensive. Golf play, golf course infrastructure, the creek and existing club structures near the property line would all create problems.

That leaves the median. The median sits inside a historic parkway, so the project needs sign-off from preservation reviewers. DOTI says it worked with the Landmark Preservation team and confirmed their approval before choosing the preferred alternative. The meeting boards still list bringing the project before Landmark Preservation as a future step. DOTI classifies the work as a Large Capital Project, meaning more than $1 million to build, with major roadway reconstruction.

What the Public Asked For, and Where the Money Went

The 2025 outreach included a June 18 virtual meeting, a pop-up on the trail on Bike to Work Day (June 25) and an in-person meeting on November 15. DOTI reports hearing from more than 400 community members. The city's engagement summary describes the trail as uncomfortable and unsafe, with frequent user conflicts and too little separation from traffic. At Downing and University, people raised speeding, confusing intersection layouts and slip turn lanes. They also asked to keep three travel lanes, to protect the median's tree canopy, and to make the Gilpin Street entrance to Denver Country Club work better.

The last of the Meeting #2 boards splits the work into two tracks:

• 1st Ave. & University intersection design: "Funding Secured," through the 2025 Vibrant Denver Bond, moving toward construction.
• 1st Ave. corridor redesign, Downing to University: "No resources identified to advance past this phase." Next steps listed are developing cost ranges, studying the historic implications, going before Landmark Preservation and finding money for more design work.

The second track includes the wider trail, the tree lawn and the Downing/Corona intersection. For Downing, DOTI has drawn a revised right-turn lane, relocated bus stops and more landscaping in the median. On its project page, the city says it does not yet know when construction will happen and that a project this size "could take several years from plan recommendation to implementation." As of October 2026, the project status still reads "Design."

Why the University Corner Moves First

Voters approved the Vibrant Denver Bond on November 4, 2025. Its project list includes "1st & University Intersection Improvements" at $5,700,000, for signal and geometry changes that make the intersection safer for people walking, biking, taking transit and driving. The bond team briefed the District 5 community cabinet on April 7, 2026. According to the meeting minutes, design was expected to start in Q4 2026, the quarter that began this month, with construction finished in 2028.

DOTI has shown two concepts for the intersection. Concept A keeps the channelized right turns but converts them to "smart channel" lanes, with raised crosswalks and rapid flashing beacons that tell turning drivers to stop. Concept B removes the channelized right turns entirely, rebuilds the corners and prohibits right turns on red. Concept B means fewer crossings overall, but each crossing is longer and covers more lanes. The boards say the final design will combine ideas and feedback from both. Both drawings include a "Planned Cycletrack To Be Provided By Developer" along the edge of the intersection.

That developer is East West Partners, which is building Cherry Creek West. In March 2026, contractor Saunders announced that demolition had started on the former Elway's, Brio, Container Store, Macy's Furniture and Boulder Running Company buildings. The former Bed Bath & Beyond is staying for now as a temporary construction office. The developer's published timeline lists:

1. Utility work in summer 2026
2. Groundbreaking in December 2026
3. Road, utility and creek improvements completed in late 2027
4. Office completion in summer 2029, and the public realm in late 2029

These dates are forecasts. The most recent field report found is from March. The first building, One Cherry Creek, is planned as 200,000 square feet of office space and 19,000 square feet of retail. ColoradoBiz reported in April 2026 that leasing had opened and that completion was scheduled for summer 2029.

At the April briefing, a council member asked whether the city was coordinating with Cherry Creek West. Bond program staff answered that the bond team needs to "get caught up" because the development is "slightly ahead right now." They said the bond team and DOTI would coordinate with the developer to limit disruption, especially when traffic is heavier than usual, and gave Black Friday as an example.

The developer's road and creek work is scheduled to finish by late 2027. The bond-funded intersection is due by 2028, with design just starting. Neither date is a commitment yet. Both sit years ahead of a trail widening that has no money behind it.

Where to Follow It From Here

The bond program said engagement timelines will vary by project and that it expects most of its projects to begin community engagement in some form before the end of 2026. If the University intersection design starts on schedule, its first public round could come within the next few months. The corridor redesign has an email sign-up on the DOTI project page, and the page lists Marie Thoming as the project contact. Until the corridor gets funding, the trail beside Denver Country Club stays 8 to 9 feet wide, with no barrier from traffic, through at least one more snow season.

The 1st & University redesign and the Cherry Creek West construction will both reach the Country Club edge between now and 2029. If you'd like to talk through what that timeline might mean for your block, Christine Nicholson is happy to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.