Armando Payan has watched northern Denver change over several decades as thousands of residents have moved to Globeville and other neighborhoods near downtown, bringing more traffic with them.
But one nearby piece of infrastructure — the shadowy, run-down 38th Street underpass that crosses below railroad tracks — has caused him headaches for years, with little change despite the population growth.
“It’s a horror story,” Payan said, with low clearance, a narrow two-lane road and flooding during heavy rains. When he approached the underpass recently, a semitruck was wedged beneath it.
The outdated crossing serves as one of few connections across the freight tracks — and, now, the Regional Transportation District’s A-Line train — for drivers in an area that’s sprouting tall apartment buildings on both sides of what’s become the River North Art District. The four nearest census tracts to the underpass are home to more than 15,000 people, according to 2022 census estimates. It’s also a heavy commuter route, and the nearest traffic crossings of the tracks are located more than a mile away in either direction.
Between 2012 and 2022, census estimates show, the population in a zone that’s seen most of the area’s redevelopment — between Coors Field and 38th Street — grew by 91%.
“It’s going to get worse because you’re going to continue to build high-density housing down there,” said Payan, president of a group called the United Community Action Network (UCAN) of Metro Denver. “Our population is going to increase in the metro Denver. It’s not going to go away.”
City departments have studied the need for better connections across the tracks for at least 15 years, resulting in smaller improvements that included the building of pedestrian bridges over the tracks near RTD’s 38th and Blake A-Line station. But the city has put off a longer-term recommendation made in a 2010 study for a major underpass reconstruction — a project that would widen the road to two traffic lanes in each direction, expand the sidewalk on the north side for cyclists, add a sidewalk on the south side and increase the vertical clearance.
The current state of the 38th Street underpass regularly annoys locals who commute through the area, with drivers and cyclists navigating the road’s potholes and other obstacles. Meanwhile, pedestrians hurry along the sidewalk through the dark space, passing the remnants of murals — the echoes of a community effort from 2016.
Neighborhood representatives who have sounded the alarm on its problematic conditions are pressing the city government to prioritize fixing the various safety hazards. The issue is catching the attention of elected officials.
But there remains no firm plan for expanding the underpass or repairing its drainage problems in the near future.
A councilman’s crusade
The 38th Street underpass sits at the crux of three neighborhoods: Five Points, Elyria-Swansea and Cole. In order to reach it after exiting Interstate 70, southbound drivers on Washington Street briefly pass through the Globeville neighborhood, too. Portions of all of those neighborhoods are in the RiNo district.
Washington turns into 38th near Brighton Boulevard, with the PepsiCo Denver plant on the left and a Natural Grocers store on the right.
After crossing through that busy intersection, a yellow sign orders drivers in the right lane to quickly merge left ahead of the underpass. Underneath the train tracks, the pavement is bumpy. On the other side of the underpass stand new hotels and apartment buildings that dot Walnut Street.
Denver City Councilman Darrell Watson, who represents the affected neighborhoods, said he recently listed the 38th Street underpass as a top priority for District 9 to Mayor Mike Johnston.
Among other challenges, “if there is an emergency, there is no way … that fire personnel or someone can get to or through to save lives,” Watson said, citing the potential for backed-up traffic on either side to block access.
Former council member Debbie Ortega raised the issue for at least a decade, Watson said, adding: “It’s a mess. It should have been dealt with.”
And back then, there wasn’t as much new development in the former industrial district.
“Right now, we have 10-story buildings on one side of the underpass,” Watson said. “We have open land that’s already zoned for additional development on the other side.”
Watson said he would have supported requiring nearby developers to invest in improvements to the underpass, but “that was not done.”
The 2010 city study, which focused on operational traffic improvements, put the cost of a project that included widening the underpass at $40 million to $60 million, a figure that’s now dated. A 2017 railroad crossing connectivity analysis produced by AECOM noted that the greatest challenge would be widening beneath the Union Pacific Railroad bridge, since its abutment is right behind the current wall. Two adjacent bridges built more recently — for Blake Street and the RTD tracks — were designed “in anticipation of a future widening,” the report says.
Watson now aims to work with the community and Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to identify potential fixes, related costs and initial steps.
“It’s pertinent because transportation is important,” he said. “We intend to be very tough on making sure that this doesn’t go another four to 10 years. We just can’t do it.”
No immediate plans, no funding
When it comes to flooding, DOTI officials are aware of the challenges caused by the low spot underneath the underpass.
“The railroad track at that location was built at-grade, and then at some point, we dug a street underneath the tracks, creating that low spot,” spokesperson Nancy Kuhn said.
The flooding problem is due to a small drain, with inlets connecting to an 18-inch pipe that leads to the South Platte River.
“This pipe is small and can handle the smaller everyday storms, but can become overwhelmed in larger storm events, thus causing the flooding,” Kuhn said. After a gusher in August 2022, firefighters rescued eight people from a minivan submerged in the underpass.
Over the last 15 years, the city installed a new stormwater management system nearby that helps prevent flooding in the broader area. But “there remains a need to upsize the local system” affecting the underpass, Kuhn said. “Right now, this system is not planned and has no funding, but, should a major reconstruction occur in the area for some reason, we would reevaluate priorities.”
As for a larger infrastructure project, Mike Jaixen, a spokesperson for Union Pacific, said the railroad has had preliminary discussions with the city about the underpass. However, “we don’t have any projects scheduled for this location,” Jaixen said, adding that every Union Pacific bridge is regularly inspected to ensure safety.
Representatives of the RiNo Art District say they hope to work as community advocates, engaging with Union Pacific, DOTI and RTD to pinpoint potential solutions.
But the number of entities involved makes the path moving forward “very complex,” said Sarah Cawrse, the district’s executive director of urban strategy and design.
“Each piece of infrastructure (at) the underpass is owned by a different entity,” added Alye Sharp, executive director of programs and partnerships.
In spite of the complications, the underpass’ current conditions are causing tangible problems.
Several years ago, a RiNo Art District board member was riding his bike through the underpass and hit a pothole, which caused a serious crash.
“The roadway itself is in pretty terrible shape,” Sharp said.
The district is hiring clean team ambassadors to carry out streetscape maintenance and trash services, with a focus on litter and graffiti removal at the underpass.
But Cawrse would like to see a major project, with possibilities like additional traffic lanes, better access to the underpass for pedestrians and cyclists, and clearance for safe passage of larger vehicles.
“It’s definitely a high priority,” Cawrse said, especially as “there’s just more and more development happening, more people moving to the area.”
Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.
