Colorado town votes to construct entrance gate amid traffic dispute with Denver, Littleton
Bow Mar, a small town in Colorado, sits between Denver and Littleton, and community leaders have been pushing back against drivers who use local streets as shortcuts. Now, the town is moving forward with plans to construct a gate at one of its entrances.
The town's population is about 950, but a traffic study found that about 1,200 vehicles travel through the community every day. The study says a majority of those drivers do not live in Bow Mar.
The town says the traffic puts children, retirees and seniors in the community at risk. It has introduced speed bumps, installed "kids at play" signs, and lowered the speed limit to 20 mph in order to calm traffic, but residents tell CBS Colorado that they still have safety concerns.
Bow Mar leaders proposed building controlled-access gates at two of the town's three main entrances and closing a smaller entrance near Tufts Avenue.
Denver and Littleton leaders opposed the idea. Both cities asked Bow Mar to pause the proposal and work with them on a different solution. They argued that "Bow Mar undoubtedly expects its residents to have reasonable access to Denver and Littleton roads and rights-of-way. Denver and Littleton expect the same in turn."
Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn told CBS Colorado that the plan to close off public streets would disrupt traffic and create safety concerns by cutting off access to the traffic signal at Quincy Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard.
But a car found in Bowles Lake on Wednesday renewed community calls for action.
On Monday, the town's board of trustees announced unanimous approval to move forward with an engineering firm in Bow Mar. They said the first gate could be installed as early as Thanksgiving, but won't be operational until mid-January, and added that the town will release more information about construction at the Sheridan entrance in the coming weeks.
Bow Mar did not clarify how the gate would operate or whether it would be closed during rush hours or 24/7. Town leaders said this is something that will be discussed, and they hope to have a decision soon.
They also shared that the town will measure the impact of the current project before moving forward with any additional gates, but it does not currently have accident report data. Last week, CBS Colorado submitted multiple requests for accident data to Columbine Valley Police (who cover Bow Mar) and has not yet heard back.
