Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) will see a modest budget increase compared to last year but the city’s climate office will face a slight decrease.

The budgets for the two department’s briefings on Tuesday were created through the lens of Mayor Mike Johnston’s four stated citywide goals. His goals, broadly speaking, did not change from last year, though specific targets may have as city needs evolved since Johnston took office.

Much of DOTI’s focus, outside of the usual infrastructure maintenance, is on reducing traffic fatalities, especially in high pedestrian areas. The department plans to use speed cameras, better signage and better paint usage to enhance enforcement and driver decision-making.

Denver would provide $135.5 million for DOTI through the general fund, roughly one quarter of the department’s total operating budget and an increase of $7 million compared to last year.

Despite highlighting investments in pedestrian and motorist safety, Councilmember Chris Hinds questioned why improvements to bike lanes were not included as a line item in the budget. Many people are asking for more bike lanes, he said.

“Where you see (bike lanes) is in our neighborhood traffic management program, which also includes our investments in slow and safe streets and bikeways… They are collapsed together as an individual item,” DOTI Director Amy Ford said. “You also see it attached to our asset management program, specifically our paving programs.”

Safety can be delivered to cyclists and pedestrians in several ways, Ford said. She highlighted traffic signal improvements and enforcement measures.

One way DOTI plans to improve enforcement is by adding speed cameras along the Alameda Avenue and Federal Boulevard corridors – two of Denver’s busiest – in 2025. The speed cameras are part of a new effort by DOTI to reduce casualties throughout Denver’s streets.

This is in concert with the existing, but seemingly ineffective, vision zero, which seeks to outright eliminate fatalities and serious bodily injuries dealt to pedestrians, motorists and others, citywide.

While DOTI, and indeed the whole city, have environmental commitments to consider, such as revamping its fleet with more climate friendly vehicles, it is not their sole focus. Denver’s independent Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience has outline far more specific goals for the city.

First among them are the ongoing efforts to reduce building emissions citywide.

The city currently mandates new construction use electrical – rather than natural gas – heating elements. By 2027, the city will not issue permits for any kind of gas-powered heating or cooling equipment in new construction.

The office plans to go beyond buildings and is trying to lower greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and vehicles in 2025.

“Thinking about fleet electrification and alternative travel modes is a top priority for us in 2025,” Executive Director Elizabeth Babcock said. “We’re making a big investment (in electrification), $6 million for EV replacements of city vehicles that are at the end of their useful life and $7.4 million for EV charging infrastructure.”

Not all of CASR’s spending will come out of the general fund budget. Some will come from the roughly $50 million climate protection fund and other special revenue sources.

CASR will ask for $6.3 million, a sliver of the total city budget of $1.76 billion. This is a $100,000 reduction compared to last year, when the department had $6.4 million to work with.

Other priorities for CASR include addressing the heat island effect that many cities are known for. In short, buildings and a comparable lack of green spaces and trees create a higher temperature within the city than surrounding areas.

“Extreme heat is one of our key climate vulnerabilities in Denver… So we’re going to be working on heat-related strategies to reduce the impact of heat in our communities, our built environment and support social infrastructure,” she said. “We are planting trees in our most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods with the lowest tree canopy and we’re also providing cooling and air filters to households in need.”