What’s ina name?
Brighton Boulevard could soon become Broadway, passing through RiNo district
As entrances to downtown Denver go, Brighton Boulevard long has been a dusty doormat — and it’s no longer the fastest route out of the city to its namesake town.
But the city is pouring $40 million-plus into overhauling and modernizing the street, and some property owners and residents in the now-burgeoning, industrialchic River North Art District wonder if it’s time for a name change.
After months of discussions, the leading candidate for a new street name is pretty simple: Broadway Boulevard.
But there is some dissension to the idea. Competing views will be aired during a public meeting that RiNo’s General Improvement District has organized for 5 p.m. on Oct. 3 at Visual Interest, 3444 Brighton Blvd.
Ultimately, changing the name would be up to a vote of property owners along Brighton between 29th and York streets, at the Adams County line.
The proposed name would make it clear that Broadway — Denver’s main street through downtown — simply curves northeast before it turns into the current Brighton Boulevard at 29th.
Developer Bernard Hurley, who supports the idea, has argued that Broadway is a more iconic name and would be fitting for a northern gateway to downtown.
But fellow developer Mickey Zeppelin, an early innovator in the area, opposes the idea as inauthentic, telling Denverite recently that keeping the Brighton Boulevard name would honor the area’s industrial heritage as it undergoes massive change.
Both are expected to speak during the meeting.
The General Improvement District is a taxing entity that has chipped in money for the city project on Brighton.
Crews are installing sidewalks, protected bike lanes, street lights, upgraded signals and street parking along Brighton between 29th and 44th streets, with that work expected to be complete in the spring. Design work is under way for future phases that will extend the improvements northward into Elyria-Swansea near the city-led National Western Center project.