Cities turning to urban design in effort to protect pedestrians from motor vehicles

MSN/KUSA-TV Denver | Kevin Vaughn | January 2, 2025

A tragedy like the one in New Orleans is possible anywhere pedestrians and motor vehicles have access to the same real estate.

And while a simple accident – such as a motorist experiencing a medical emergency – may be most likely, an intentional attack is also on the minds of those who have to think about keeping people safe at gatherings of pedestrians.

“You can never predict everything, which is really sad,” Arvada Mayor Lauren Simpson said. “But we do the best we can with the knowledge we have.”

In Arvada, the conversion of a section of Old Wadsworth done during the pandemic was eventually made permanent – with raised curbing designed to stop a street car but still allow a fire truck or an ambulance to get through and with a combination of posts known as bollards.

“We knew we had to make it safe. That was paramount,” Simpson said. “We needed to be able to have that emergency response when it was necessary.

“But we also wanted to make sure that our pedestrians, when they gathered in the street, didn't have to worry about a rogue vehicle coming through either intentionally or, much more likely, accidentally.”

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