Walnut Street Through RiNo To Be Converted Into Two-Way Street

DENVER (CBS4) - Some drivers in Denver's Five Points/River North community will encounter construction on Thursday and Friday. Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, DOTI, announced it will close a portion of Walnut Street so crews can convert the one-way road to a two-way one.

The closure of Walnut Street, between Broadway and Downing, will begin at 7 a.m. Thursday and remain until Friday afternoon. In that time, crews will re-stripe the road, update signage, and set up new traffic lights and pedestrian signals where necessary.

According to a release from DOTI, the conversion will "create a safer street that reduces vehicle speeds, improves circulation for people walking, biking, and driving, and better-defined parking and loading zones."

The changes will be a welcome sight for John Beldock, who owns Erico Motor Sports, a longtime staple of the area. Beldock tells CBS4 he and his wife helped push for the change.

"I think it's going to cut down on the speeds," he said. "There's so much pedestrian traffic around here now and really there aren't full blocks of sidewalks either on Walnut. So the pedestrian traffic is huge. Cars are going the wrong way on a one way quite often."

Sidewalks along Walnut and side streets will remain open throughout the road closure.