16th Street Mall
Encyclopedia
Pedestrian mall
Pedestrian malls in the United States are also known as pedestrian streets and are the most common form of pedestrian zone in large cities in the United States. It is a street lined with storefronts and closed off to most automobile traffic...
and transit mall
Transit mall
A transit mall is a street, or set of streets, in a city or town along which automobile traffic is prohibited or greatly restricted and only public transit vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians are permitted....
in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. The mall, 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) long, runs along 16th Street in downtown Denver, from Wewatta Street (at Union Station
Union Station (Denver)
Union Station is Denver, Colorado, USA's historic train station at 17th and Wynkoop in the LoDo district. The station first opened in 1881.-History:...
) to the intersection of 16th Avenue and Broadway (at Civic Center
Civic Center, Denver
Civic Center is a neighborhood and park in Denver, Colorado. The area is known as the center of the civic life in the city, with numerous institutions of arts, government, and culture as well as numerous festivals, parades, and protests throughout the year...
Station). It is home to over 300 locally owned/chain stores, over 50 restaurants, and the Denver Pavilions.
History
The 16th Street Mall opened in 1982, originally from Market Street to Broadway, and was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & PartnersPei Cobb Freed & Partners
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners is an architectural firm that was founded in 1955 by I. M. Pei as I. M. Pei & Associates, in 1966 called I. M. Pei & Partners, and received its current name and organization in 1989. The founders were I. M. Pei, Henry N. Cobb, and Eason H. Leonard. Pei and Leonard retired...
, in collaboration with the urban design firm, OLIN.
The Mall was extended from Market Street to Wynkoop Street in 2001 and to Union Station
Union Station (Denver)
Union Station is Denver, Colorado, USA's historic train station at 17th and Wynkoop in the LoDo district. The station first opened in 1881.-History:...
in 2002 to coincide with the completion of the Central Platte Valley (CPV) light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
spur. Before 1982, 16th Street was still a shopping and business destination that was home to four major department stores and many office buildings.
Currently, the 16th Street Mall serves as a nexus for the major businesses downtown as well as the various tourist attractions that are nearby.
Street performing
Traditionally, street performing has been very popular on the mall, with many local folk, country, and vocal musicians gaining recognition in pop culture. Other types of performers, such as dancers, actors, impressionists, and comedians have also used the popular location as a prime venue for discovery. The 16th Street Mall also has its share of unique performers, such as the robot manLiving statue
The term living statue refers to a mime artist who poses like a statue or mannequin, usually with realistic statue-like makeup, sometimes for hours at a time....
, dressed in silver boxes and face paint greeting shoppers.
The MallRide
Regional Transportation District
The Regional Transportation District, or RTD, was organized in 1969 and is the regional authority operating public transit services in eight of the twelve counties in the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area in Colorado. RTD is governed by a 15-member, publicly elected Board of...
(RTD), is known as MallRide.
From 1982 to 1999, the MallRide fleet used front-wheel-drive and right-hand-drive bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es that were custom-designed and purpose-built. The right-hand-drive gives the operators better view of passengers entering and exiting the buses from the right-hand side and to watch out for the pedestrians. These buses can travel up to 25 mi/h on the street and must deal with the 'wandering' pedestrians on the sidewalks who get too close to the buses.
When the original fleet was beginning to age, Neoplan constructed a single left-hand-drive prototype bus with video cameras as a potential replacement. All of the MallRide operators refused to accept the left-hand-drive bus, citing more convenience and safety with right-hand-drive configuration.
RTD went back to the drawing board and started the bid process anew. Many of bus or heavy vehicle manufacturers rejected the RTD's exact specification due to the low number of buses to be manufactured and "unproved" hybrid technology (especially in the late 1990s and early 2000s). RTD decided to form the manufacturing company, TransTeq, as to build its own hybrid MallRide buses, becoming the first public transportation agency in the United States to have its own manufacturing facility.
The second-generation MallRide buses are called EcoMark and use the 70 hp 1.6-litre compressed natural gas Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
engine that drives the generator on demand. The generator in turn provides the electrical power to the two electric motors.http://74.52.59.194/~teq/pdfs/EcoMark_Overview.pdf The batteries are recharged by both regenerative brake power and generator on demand. EcoMark MallRide buses have extra doors and more standing room than the first-generation MallRide buses. The operators continue to drive on the right-hand side as they did in the first-generation.
MallRide stops at every intersection between Union Station and the 16th Avenue/Broadway intersection, with three stations—Union Station (at 17th Street and Wynkoop Street), Market Street (at 16th Street and Market Street), and Civic Center
Civic Center, Denver
Civic Center is a neighborhood and park in Denver, Colorado. The area is known as the center of the civic life in the city, with numerous institutions of arts, government, and culture as well as numerous festivals, parades, and protests throughout the year...
(at 16th Street and Broadway)—providing key connections to other RTD buses.
In addition, MallRide provides connections to light rail. Connections to the C Line
C Line (RTD)
The C Line—also referred to as the Orange Line, because the line is colored orange on maps—is a light rail line which is part of the light rail system operated by the Regional Transportation District in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area in Colorado. The line was added to the system on...
and the E Line
E Line (RTD)
The E Line, sometimes known as the Purple Line, is part of the light rail system operated by the Regional Transportation District in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area in Colorado. The line was added to the system on November 17, 2006, with the completion of the Southeast Corridor project . It is...
are at Union Station
Union Station (Denver)
Union Station is Denver, Colorado, USA's historic train station at 17th and Wynkoop in the LoDo district. The station first opened in 1881.-History:...
. Connections to the D Line
D Line (RTD)
The D Line—also referred to as the Green Line, because green is the line's color on maps—is a light rail line which is part of the light rail system operated by the Regional Transportation District in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area in Colorado...
, the F Line
F Line (RTD)
The F Line , part of the light rail system operated by the Regional Transportation District in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area in Colorado, was added to the system on November 17, 2006, as part of the Southeast Corridor project . It is one of four routes that are part of the RTD's service plan...
, and the H Line
H Line (RTD)
The H Line , part of the light rail system operated by the Regional Transportation District in the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area in Colorado, was added to the system on November 17, 2006, with the completion of the Southeast Corridor project...
are at 16th/California & 16th/Stout
16th/California & 16th/Stout (RTD)
16th/California and 16th/Stout are a pair of RTD light rail stations in Downtown Denver, Colorado, United States. Operating as part of the D, F and H Lines, the stations were opened on October 8, 1994, and are operated by the Regional Transportation District. These stations have one track each, and...
stations.
Transportation alternatives to the MallRide on the 16th Street Mall include Pedicab Services and Horse Drawn Carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
.
See Also
- Regional Transportation District (RTD)Regional Transportation DistrictThe Regional Transportation District, or RTD, was organized in 1969 and is the regional authority operating public transit services in eight of the twelve counties in the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area in Colorado. RTD is governed by a 15-member, publicly elected Board of...
- Denver
External links
- The Downtown Denver Partnership website on the 16th Street Mall
- 16th Street Mall Plan for the mall's next 25 years
- Rocky Mountain News: Don't realign city's spine, panel says, May 30, 2008
- Regional Transportation District webpage Provides Mall Shuttle information including frequency by time of day.
- TransTeq - Manufacturer of the EcoMark busses used on the 16th Street Mall
- Photos of the 16th Street Mall