Illegal Speed Bump takes out south Denver Cyclist

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

Update This location might not be in the city of Englewood, anyone know who's it is in?

Last Friday a cyclist was riding in Englewood in the Denver Tech Center descending a hill. Given that fall is coming on the shadows from the trees are becoming stronger and one tree was shadowing a "speed bump" leaving it nearly invisible to the cyclist resulting in them hitting the pavement at speeds around 20mph and putting them in the ER. Here is the location of the incident Interestingly enough, the city of Englewood on their website does not use speed bumps

Results of various studies have raised concerns about the potential dangers of speed bumps. Speed bumps are not recognized by the State of Colorado as an official traffic control device. Injuries caused by speed bumps may result in significant additional liability for the City. For these reasons, the City of Englewood does not use speed bumps on public streets and alleys.

Here is a second view of the speed bump view too

The final result gave the rider some extreme road rash (they sent me the photos but won't share) and has left their leg immobile for a unknown healing time. So if Englewood does not install speed bumps then who did? It would be assumed that if the city had some street paint might have been added to warn users of the road of this.

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16 Comments

The Tech Center is not in the

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

The Tech Center is not in the City of Englewood. Figure out if this location is in Greenwood Village, Denver, Centennial or Arapahoe County and check with their public works department. Looks like a pretty amateur speed bump. Probably just something the public works field guys threw together.

Sorry to hear about your injuries.

80111

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

This area code can be identified as Greenwood Village, Englewood and even Centennial. Working in the Tech Center Ive seen all 3 used, but I imagine this would fall under Greenwood Villages jurisdiction.

The location is in

Submitted by Coloradobikemaps,com (not verified) on

The location is in unincorporated Arapahoe County. But it is not clear that the street is dedicated to, or owned by, the county, in the formal sense that the county is responsible for maintenance, plowing, etc. In the GIS database maintained by CDOT the streets in question are not listed. In the 2011 GIS Arapahoe County database Inverness Main and Vellagio are both classified as private streets. I can post shots that make this clear, but talking to the HOA if there is one is maybe the best bet. Lakewood has a number of speed bumped areas--most are well marked.

sppedbump

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

That's great. But if "who is responsible" is not discovered, and no city, HOA or county, wishes to take responsibility for this illegal speed bump, then it should be marked with flourescent orange paint identifying its existence. This is obviously a DYI project by someone, as all speedbumps are required to have not only clear road markings but clear signage on either side warning of an upcoming speed bump. So at least spray painting it will help.

Yah, cyclist crashes and it's

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Yah, cyclist crashes and it's the road's fault. Brother please!

Sucks someone got hurt but it's no one's fault except the injured.

P.S. Potholes are not officially approved traffic-control devices either. So it's safe to expect exactly zero of these; don't waste a single second of riding bliss looking for them.

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