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River South Greenway Master Plan

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Baker's western boundary is the South Platte River, and of all Denver's neighborhoods Baker may have the longest frontage on the river; yet due to the Valley Highway (I-25), Santa Fe Drive and the railroad, Baker's riverfront is almost completely inaccessible

still, the river is part of Baker's history and identity; it fed Lake Archer, the reservoir that was a major part of Denver's drinking water system; workers from northern Colorado beet fields once wintered on the Platte's eastern floodplain; most of Baker's houses are built on alluvial sand from the river's past floods and wanderings; much of the more interesting occasional wildlife -- deer, fox, coyote, skunks, raccoons, herons, raptors -- that have been spotted in Baker have their home in the river's scarred and withered riparian zone

despite being dammed, channelized, stripped of its floodplain and most of its wetlands, and receiving treated sewage and untreated road runoff, the South Platte is still alive, and it has potential to be more alive and to get more respect and attention from citizens of Denver; this is the aim of the River South Greenway Master Plan, which in its draft form restores wetlands, tributaries, riverbank ecology and, yes, recreation opportunities

the plan is on a fast track, hoping to take advantage of federal grants and depressed real estate prices; a series of three public meetings concluded 9 Sept. at the Overland Golf Course clubhouse with a presentation of a detailed vision for the river from 20th St. on the north to the Denver city limit near Dartmouth Ave. on the south

detailed maps were offered for comment during the meeting, but have had only limited electronic distribution (they are squirreled away on a consultant's FTP server); we're hosting the planning documents here at BakerNow.com to make them more freely accessible (both are approx 3MB PDFs):

bear in mind that these are only drafts

an estimated 80 people attended the meeting; some of their numerous written comments are shown in this view of one segment of the draft map:

sticky notes on a planning map

take a look at the preliminary plans linked above -- immediately obvious are:

  • a major redesign of the Overland Golf Course area to include a naturalized area, a major public park, and multiple connections to Ruby Hill Park across the river
  • enhancement of riverfront immediately south of Alameda Ave. and in the Frog Hollow area north of Sixth Ave
  • and a new land use concept for the area currently occupied by the Elitch amusement park

less obvious are the ideas to:

  • reduce the steep riverbank angle in many places and create more of a "canyon" environment when the river banks must remain steep
  • widen paths to 12 feet where possible and protect paths from highway noise
  • and revamp Valverde park

missing so far from the plan are a pedestrian/bicycle bridge on the Bayaud alignment (described in the Baker Neighborhood Plan, the Denver Bicycle Master Plan, the CDOT Valley Highway Plan and the Alameda Station Area Plan); also missing is another bridge south of Alameda (an idea first recorded on the Alameda Station Area Plan); without these bridges, Baker's only new river access will be at the Cherokee (former Gates Rubber) redevelopment, far south of the Baker's current residential core

still, although it will remain hard for Baker residents to reach, this plan envisions a much healthier and more enjoyable future for a forlorn and neglected stretch of the South Platte River