Safer Streets Littleton

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Learn about Recent and Current Projects

Safer Streets are for Everyone

Safer Streets Littleton is dedicated to enhancing the safety and accessibility of the city's streets for all users, with a particular focus on pedestrians and bicyclists. By focusing on real-world testing, community input, and establishing a culture of safety, Littleton is working to create a safer, more walkable, and bike-friendly environment. The city is committed to ensuring that everyone, whether walking, biking, driving or using transit, can move through the community safely and with confidence.

Program Overview

Safer Streets Littleton is both a program and a philosophy framing how the city approaches safety systemically while implementing tangible actions. The program is led by the City’s Transportation Team, which works collaboratively with other city departments, including the City Manager’s Office, other Public Works groups, Community Development, Communications, and the Littleton Police Department, to ensure a holistic approach to street safety.

The program is guided by the following focus areas:

  • People-First Streets
  • Culture Change
  • Data-Driven Decision-Making
  • Collaboration and Resources

Learn more about the current strategies and actions being implemented in the dropdowns below. 

People-First Streets

Safer Streets Littleton prioritizes street improvements and multimodal projects that put people first by enhancing safety, connectivity, and comfort for all users. These projects focus infrastructure efforts on local and neighborhood connector streets, where low-cost improvements can have a big safety impact.

Current Actions

Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program

As part of Safer Streets Littleton efforts, the city’s Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program aims to reduce vehicle speeds and improve neighborhood safety and livability on Local Streets and Neighborhood Connectors. Community members are encouraged to submit transportation safety concerns and ideas for improvement through the online request form. Through a data-driven process, request locations are scored, prioritized, and selected for implementation of pilot projects to effectively slow speeds and address safety concerns.

Culture Change

Safer Streets Littleton aims to promote a citywide commitment to safety on our streets by fostering community engagement, education, and collaboration to increase safety awareness and support safer roadway behaviors.

  • Previous 2025 Events
    • Name a Snowplow Contest with Littleton Public Schools
    • Winter Bike to Work Day “Bike Love Letter” campaign
    • Spring Bike & Walk to School Day: Safety Swag Stations
    • Summer Bike to Work Day Stations & After-Party
    • Bike Maintenance 101 Workshop
    • Pop-up Practice Park at Twilight Criterium
    • Summer Learn to Ride Class at East Community Center Practice Park
    • Fall Learn to Ride Classes at East Community Center Practice Park
    • Fall Walk & Bike to School Day: Crossing Guard Champions & Safety Swag Station 

Data-Driven Decision Making

Safer Streets Littleton applies a systemic, data-driven and transparent approach to identifying, prioritizing and proactively addressing high risk areas and behaviors through targeted enforcement and education, as well as innovative approaches to traffic calming.

Current Actions

  • Traffic Calming Evaluation
    • Data analysis regarding current speed limits, traffic volume, crash history, and speed data to identify areas with higher crash rates and disparities between posted speed limits and observed speeds.
    • Assessment of existing infrastructure, including the effectiveness of Littleton’s current variety of traffic circles, speed humps, raised crossings, and other devices, including those planned for pilot projects.
    • Development of a traffic calming toolbox which summarizes the traffic calming treatments that are deemed appropriate by the city for the varying characteristics that exist along Littleton local streets and neighborhood connectors.
    • Littleton-Traffic-Calming-Evaluation_Existing-Conditions_FINAL.pdf(PDF, 8MB)
    • Littleton-Neighborhood-Traffic-Calming-Toolbox-2025.pdf(PDF, 2MB)
    • View the traffic calming treatment design guidelines under Design Requirements on the Comprehensive Plan and Design Requirements webpage.
  • Littleton Road Safety Report
    • Detailed analysis of crash trends from 2020 to 2024, offering insight into patterns and underlying factors that contribute to traffic incidents in Littleton.
    • Final report to be published in 2026.
    • Interactive crash dashboard to be published in 2026.

Previous Actions

  • School Zone Safety Evaluation
    • City staff collaborated with Littleton Public Schools to examine existing conditions and conduct drop-off and pick-up observations for all schools within the City of Littleton in Spring 2024. Staff met individually with each school’s staff to share assessments and obtain input and feedback.
    • A School Safety Summit in June 2024 brought together school staff, school district representatives, city staff, and the project team. During the summit, key findings were shared, and attendees provided their feedback and perspective.
    • Immediate improvements included recommendations for crosswalk locations, school zone flasher placements, and enhanced school signage to increase visibility and awareness.
    • Longer-term recommendations were documented with the goal of improving safety and circulation patterns around the schools.
    • Implementation work began in Fall 2024 and will continue through 2026. 

Collaboration & Resources

The City of Littleton is working to strengthen partnerships and coordination among city departments, community organizations, neighboring communities, and regional partners to align efforts, policies, and staffing and financial resources for safer streets.

Current Actions

  • Traffic Safety Committee
    • This bi-weekly committee is comprised of a multidisciplinary team from Public Works, Communications, and Littleton Police Department. This committee aims to address safety issues within the city and create data-driven solutions to these issues, when possible.
  • Littleton Public Schools (LPS) Coordination
    • Staff from the City of Littleton and LPS meet monthly to discuss and collaborate on initiatives, discuss safety issues, and provide timely updates to each organization.
  • School Zone Enforcement
    • Littleton Police Department continues to prioritize increased school zone enforcement as time and staffing allows. LPD supports local stakeholders, the city and LPS partners as safety initiatives are implemented.
  • Safer Streets Strategic Plan
    • The Safer Streets Littleton (SSL) Strategic Plan provides a comprehensive, action-oriented framework to enhance safety and accessibility for all users of Littleton’s streets. Through a combination of education, enforcement, infrastructure improvements, and data-driven decision-making, the city is committed to reducing crashes, improving mobility, fostering a culture of safety, and improving the quality of life in the community.
    • Five-year action plan to be published in 2025.

Previous Safety Work

  • 2020
  •  Added bike lanes and widened sidewalks along Windermere Street from Littleton Boulevard to Belleview Avenue.
  •  Added safety improvements at the intersection of Federal Boulevard and Bowles Avenue.

  • 2021

    • Constructed pedestrian signal and signage at Federal Boulevard and Berry Avenue.
    • Installed a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon and additional signage on Mineral Avenue at Polo Ridge increasing visibility for pedestrians.

  • 2023

    • Replaced aging traffic signals at eight intersections.
    • Added three new raised pedestrian crossings in Downtown Littleton. 
  • 2024
  • The Safer Streets Littleton program launched in February and was able to hire two additional staff to assist with implementation of the program and other ongoing projects.
  • School Zone Safety Evaluation
  • Installed 14 speed feedback signs
  • Installed 20 crosswalks near 8 schools within the City of Littleton
  • Targeted School Zone Enforcement
  • Installed more than 800 School Route wayfinding signs in nearly 500 locations on just over 76 miles of school routes.
  • Launched the Littleton School Route Planner, an online tool to plan safe biking and walking routes to school.
  • Installed 14 bike and pedestrian pilot projects across the city.
  • Published Around Town with Jim video.

More information about the work conducted in 2024 can be found in the 2024 Safer Streets Memorandum(PDF, 1MB). 

Word on the Street

Visit the Word on the Street page for an ongoing series focusing on people who walk, bike, roll, or work on the transportation network in Littleton.

 

 

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