Serving the community since 1866
WEEK OF MAY 4, 2023
VOLUME 157 | ISSUE 20
$2
Locals fear Pedestrian counts show major impacts along Golden’s Washington Avenue Kroger-Albertsons merger will have negative impact BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
fic engineer for 20 years, said he’s never seen such high pedestrian volumes unless it was related to an event. In general, he noted how the June 11 pedestrian counts were double that of a summer weekday at the same time of day. Hausman, a consultant with Muller Engineering, and city staff
Golden’s Safeway is a staple for local shoppers. People walk there from the surrounding neighborhood and the nearby Colorado School of Mines campus. About 80 employees work there, handling everything from lifesaving prescriptions to birthday cakes, according to said Tom Olson, a sevenyear employee at Golden’s Safeway. But, if Safeway and King Soopers’ parent companies merge, Golden’s Safeway could close, leaving those who rely on it adrift. Many local employees and shoppers believe the proposed merger would hurt Coloradans by eliminating jobs, reducing competition, raising prices and creating food deserts. “It’s going to get worse,” Olson said. “ … When you take away competition, prices go up, and you lose jobs and opportunities.” On April 24, Golden and Lakewoodarea shoppers and grocery store employees met with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser about the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger, urging Weiser to do everything he could to stop it. Last fall, Albertsons announced it was considering a $25 billion takeover bid from Kroger. The companies plan to finalize the merger in early 2024, if
SEE IMPACT, P2
SEE MERGE, P6
People stand along Washington Avenue with their dogs during the Goldens In Golden event in February. City officials are hoping to install new traffic signals along the avenue later this year. These new traffic signals would provide several upgrades from the FILE PHOTO BY SARA HERTWIG current ones, including the ability to synchronize with each other to optimize traffic flow.
New downtown traffic signals forthcoming BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Anyone who’s visited downtown Golden in the summertime knows there are hundreds of pedestrians crossing the streets.
Now, city officials have an exact number. A pedestrian count last summer showed there were 1,600 pedestrians crossing at 12th Street and Washington Avenue for an hour around noon Saturday, June 11. And that day was a yellow flag day on Clear Creek, traffic engineer John Hausman said, so July numbers would likely be even more. Hausman, who’s been a traf-
VOICES: 12 | LIFE: 14 | CALENDAR: 11 | SPORTS: 24
GOLDENTRANSCRIPT.NET • A PUBLICATION OF COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
SMALL STAGES, BIG ACTS
Local bars the spot for up-and-coming talent
P14
Check out our new look! See Page 2