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December 26, 2019
DENVER
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Quebec Street upgrades explored Plan for added lanes turns cold amid pushback, funding loss BY ESTEBAN L. HERNANDEZ DENVERITE.COM
son, one of the best places to make that happen is right at home. Having been born and raised in Canada, Johnson always threw parties at home for her kids to celebrate when the clock struck midnight in Newfoundland — at 8:30 p.m. in Colorado — back when her kids were younger. “We would make a cupcake bar with all kinds of fun toppings, and buy cheap plastic champagne glasses and make mocktails,” said Johnson, who founded blog Mile High Mamas. “It was only 9 p.m., but the kids never knew the difference. And everyone could get to bed at a decent time — mostly mom.”
The city is headed back to the drawing board to figure out potential improvements to Quebec Street in Denver’s far east neighborhoods. In September, Denver scrapped plans calling for two more traffic lanes on the major corridor, which now has two lanes for most of its length. Principal Project Manager Brian Pinkerton said an environmental assessment for the project and public opinion revealed there would be major issues with the right-of-way affecting several homes along the corridor. Now, the city is taking a step back to reevaluate. Its budget is significantly smaller: $1 million to $3 million, down from the original $23 million. Federal grant money allocated by the Denver Regional Council of Governments became unavailable because it wasn’t used within the required timeframe. The project focuses on the stretch of Quebec Street between 26th Avenue and 13th Avenue. The corridor intersects with another major roadway, Colfax, and runs through five neighborhoods: East Colfax, Montclair, North Park Hill, South Park Hill and Stapleton.
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SEE QUEBEC, P7
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Not waiting for the midnight hour Area residents, businesses share alternative traditions for New Year’s Eve BY CASEY VAN DIVIER CVANDIVIER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
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very three years or so, fire engineer Wendi Smith with the Denver Fire Department finds herself working on New Year’s Eve — a 24-hour shift starting at 7:30 p.m., usually entailing a constant stream of work and very little downtime to ring in the new year. Preparing for that means spending Dec. 31 relaxing at home, enjoying a homemade dinner and catching up with her kids, she said. “In the day, I get as much downtime as I can get, because you’re up all night long working New Year’s Eve,” she said.
It’s not the first thing some may think of when planning New Year’s Eve. But for Smith, spending time with family all day and seeing coworkers at night is an enjoyable tradition. “My coworkers are like family to me,” she said. “I love my job. I love being able to help people every day.” A laid-back, early night on New Year’s Eve is almost a necessity for first responders working that night, but they’re far from the only group looking for an alternative to midnight parties. Across the Denver area, there’s plenty of opportunity for individuals to celebrate with family and get to bed before midnight — and, added Denver mom Amber John-
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
“We can and we should celebrate hope, joy, peace and love at any time of the year and in any season of our lives.” Michael Norton, columnist | Page 4 INSIDE
VOICES: PAGE 4 | CALENDAR: PAGE 2 VOLUME 93 | ISSUE 7