Denver Mayor Mike Johnston just got the kind of report card no politician wants to bring home: a D on street safety. A coalition of transportation and safety advocates says City Hall is not moving fast enough to curb a surge in deadly crashes, and it is using the public grade as a nudge to speed up projects and programs that, in its view, could start saving lives right away.
Who Is Behind The Harsh Grade
The evaluation was led by the Denver Streets Partnership, which teamed up with allied groups, including Greater Denver Transit, to review the mayor’s record on safety, access, and mobility. As reported by KDVR, the coalition says the low mark is meant to prod city leaders to “course‑correct,” not simply to scold.
Rising Toll On Denver Streets
Denver recorded 93 traffic fatalities in 2025, a spike that both the city’s Vision Zero dashboard and local coverage flagged as a major jump in recent years. Denver7 reported that the increase included a sharp rise in pedestrian and scooter deaths, a trend that has rattled safety advocates. The coalition points to those numbers as the backdrop for its push to rapidly scale up proven safety fixes across the city.
City Pushes Back And Touts Investments
Johnston’s office is not buying the D. City officials counter that the administration has been repairing sidewalks, expanding speed‑reduction efforts, and lining up major infrastructure investments under the mayor’s Vibrant Denver goals. In an interview with Denverite, Johnston highlighted bus‑rapid transit projects and an additional 38 miles of bike lanes slated for “this year and next,” priorities that are also laid out on the city’s Vibrant Denver page. The administration also points to corridor‑level success stories from targeted safety programs as proof that its strategy can work.
Advocates Say City Needs To Hit The Gas
The coalition is not convinced the current pace matches the scale of the problem. Its report, and the groups behind it, call for faster construction of bus‑rapid transit lines, quicker buildout of protected bike lanes, and broader use of automated speed enforcement. The coalition says that since mid‑2023, more than 200 people have been killed on Denver roadways, and Greater Denver Transit’s James Flattum told KDVR the document “offers recommendations for how the mayor can course correct.” Advocates say they will be watching how quickly projects move from paper to pavement.
Corridor Gains, Citywide Gap
Officials at Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure have pointed to the SPEED program and similar targeted efforts as examples where crash numbers have dropped along specific corridors, according to Denver7. But those localized improvements have not yet translated into a citywide decline in fatalities, a gap that fuels the coalition’s sense of urgency. With the Vision Zero goal of zero traffic deaths by 2030 on the horizon, advocates say the next year will show whether the mayor’s promises turn into faster construction and measurable reductions in deaths.
The report effectively starts a public countdown clock for the Johnston administration. Advocates and some council members are watching to see whether Vibrant Denver funding is used to speed up safety projects or gets bogged down in the process. The coalition says it plans to keep tracking progress and to publish follow‑up scores if the city does not move quickly enough.
