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16th Street Mall Rebuild in Denver Overcomes Setbacks, Fall Finish Set

Denver's 16th Street Mall is undergoing a $175.4 million overhaul for the first time since its 1982 inception by I.M. Pei. Setbacks pushed the completion to fall 2025, exceeding budget but improving efficiency. The project aims to enhance infrastructure and visitor experience with wider walkways, modern design, and enhanced amenities.

Tue January 21, 2025 - West Edition #2
Lori Tobias – CEG Correspondent


A Cat 325 excavator demolishes part of the original 16th Street Mall.
Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.
A Cat 325 excavator demolishes part of the original 16th Street Mall.
A Cat 325 excavator demolishes part of the original 16th Street Mall.   (Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.) A mixer truck awaits service on the 16th Street Mall improvement project.   (Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.) Pavers are laid by hand by skilled craftsmen along the center transitway.   (Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.) New transit lines are installed in the center of the mall.   (Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.) Workers install decorative features.   (Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.) Fifty new trees are being added to an existing 150 trees on the 16th Street Mall.   (Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.) Utility line relocations are a major part of the project.   (Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.) Workers reconstruct an intersection.   (Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.)

Work on a three-and-a-half year, $175.4 million project to update Denver's iconic 16th Street Mall is more than three-quarters complete, with a target finish line of fall 2025.

Completion was set back nine months from the original schedule due to some unexpected challenges.

Those setbacks also put the project $26.4 million over the original $149 million budget but, at the same time, ultimately proved helpful when crews with design/build firm PCL Construction Services later encountered similar problems, said Nancy Kuhn, director of the communications division for the City and County of Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.

"The primary construction challenge was complex underground utilities down the transitway, all installed at different times since the late 1800s with varying levels of documentation, including a centuries-old water line, steam lines, storm and sanitary lines, electrical infrastructure, gas networks, over a dozen telecom lines and traffic networks, that are all layered underground," Kuhn said. "We took what we learned about these various underground utilities in the first few blocks to take new steps in subsequent blocks to minimize impacts to the overall schedule."

The 1.25-mi. 16th Street Mall opened in 1982, conceived by the city as a way of sparking life in a declining downtown. The pedestrian mall, designed by famed architect I.M. Pei, features free shuttles and connects the downtown from Denver Union Station to Civic Center Park and the Colorado State Capital.

According to the Denver Mile High City webpage, "The mall offers Denver's best people-watching. There are 42 outdoor cafés along the mall, making it the perfect place to grab a bite to eat or have a drink. Denver Pavilions, near the south end of the mall, is a shopping and dining complex with 12 movie theaters and more than two dozen shops and restaurants. At the north end of the mall, 16th Street continues as a pedestrian path over three bridges connecting downtown to Common Park and LoHi, a hip neighborhood filled with restaurants and brewpubs."

But the 40-year-old mall has experienced problems for years, prompting talks more than a decade ago on how to revive the maintenance-plagued city street. The revitalization, the first full makeover since the mall's opening, began in 2022.

"A primary driver for the project was the need to address deteriorating infrastructure, specifically the granite paver system, that was resulting in poor drainage, frequent disruptions to the transit system and maintenance costs of more than $1 million annually," Kuhn said.

The problem likely evolved from the design of the original pavement system which did not provide drainage for water that seeped into the mortar base below the granite pavers. Water became trapped, loosened the granite pavers during freeze-thaw cycles and, over time, the pavers began to break.

Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.

The new transit lane pavers are approximately 8-by-8 in., or four pavers for every one of the original-sized pavers. In the pedestrian area, pavers are 4-by-8 in., or about eight new pavers for each original-size paver.

"The smaller paver size spreads the wheel loads better to the mortar and grout bed and holds up better over time," Kuhn said. "The smaller 4-by-8 brick pattern pavers are part of a sand set system in the pedestrian area where the pavers interlock. The smaller size of the new granite pavers, along with the modified drainage system, and different grout and mortar materials, all will be contributing factors to a longer life for the pavers. Also, the surface of the new granite pavers has more texture than the previous pavers to provide more traction and improve pedestrian safety when wet."

The new granite paver system is expected to not only drain more efficiently but is designed to retain the original mall's early design.

"Laid by hand by skilled craftspeople, there will be more than 950,000 new pavers installed as part of the renovation," Kuhn said. "The granite paver design honors the original Navajo rug and diamondback rattlesnake pattern that has been a prominent feature of the 16th Street Mall for 40 years."

Other key features of the revitalization include:

  • Moving the transit lanes to the center of the mall, eliminating the median that runs between the buses on some blocks, and creating wider pedestrian walkways and new amenity zones for leisure, commerce, entertainment and tourism.
  • Honoring the mall's iconic original design by I.M. Pei and Associates, Olin said.
  • New art designed to draw people to the corridor.

Photo courtesy of denvergov.org.

The revitalized mall also will feature an improved urban tree canopy with 50 trees added to the existing 150 trees over the 13-block corridor and a new curbless configuration to facilitate the movement of people and enable a variety of uses, including events and festivals, Kuhn said.

To date, crews have completed work on four blocks, with 11 more blocks in various phases of construction. The project is funded through a mix of local, state and federal funds, including voter-approved Elevate Denver bond funds and contributions from partners including the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, Colorado Department of Transportation, and Federal Transit Administration.

"The reconstructed 16th Street Mall is already on a path to becoming a more vibrant, pedestrian-friendly hub, featuring wider walkways, engaging amenities and public spaces designed for connection and community," Kuhn said. "Its transformation will improve safety and mobility by replacing aging infrastructure while creating a showcase for business, a venue for civic engagement, a front porch for socializing, a place for relaxing and an accessible and engaging environment for both residents and visitors to experience the heart of Denver." CEG


Lori Tobias

Lori Tobias is a journalist of more years than she cares to count, most recently as a staff writer for The Oregonian and previously as a columnist and features writer for the Rocky Mountain News. She is the author of the memoir, Storm Beat - A Journalist Reports from the Oregon Coast, and the novel Wander, winner of the Nancy Pearl Literary Award in 2017. She has freelanced for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Denver Post, Alaska Airlines in-flight, Natural Home, Spotlight Germany, Vegetarian Times and the Miami Herald. She is an avid reader, enjoys kayaking, traveling and exploring the Oregon Coast where she lives with her husband Chan and rescue pups, Gus and Lily.


Read more from Lori Tobias here.





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