Denver officials launch study on future of 16th Street Mall

DENVER — Denver officials are launching an environmental study of the 16th Street Mall in order to revitalize the Downtown transportation and pedestrian corridor.

The environmental study is federally mandated, per the National Environmental Policy Act, reports the Denver Business Journal. The city’s Department of Community Planning and Development, the Downtown Denver Partnership and the Regional Transportation District are working together on the study, which must be completed because the mall’s original development in the 1980s was done with federal funding.

The analysis is expected to be completed at the end of this year and will examine social and environmental impacts of any potential alternatives for the mall’s future. Relocating the shuttles on 15th and 17th streets is an option that has been discussed, although it is unclear whether that will actually happen.

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The study will look at possible plans for the mall’s revitalization. Should a solution come out of the study and be approved by the Federal Transit Administration, then the project could move into its design phase.