A construction crane hangs over Tennyson Street on June 14, 2024.
Kevin J. Beatty/Denverite
Over the past decade, Tennyson Street has been booming, with local business owners experiencing both the rewards and challenges of large-scale development in the Berkeley area.
Certainly, hundreds of new homes mean hundreds of new potential customers. And many business owners Denverite spoke with said that’s a good thing.
For Jimmy Funkhouser, owner of Feral, an outdoor gear store at 3936 Tennyson Ave., the new housing and increased density have meant more shoppers. He’s all for the developers’ efforts.
Well almost.
Funkhouser was tired of the city closing roads and sidewalks without advance notice every time a crane rolled in or out to build a new development, and his business suffered the consequences.
For years, he didn’t know about the closures until he showed up to work.
“Back then, most road closures were done on weekdays because it was recognized that closing roads on Saturdays and Sundays would be very disruptive,” Funkhouser said.
Still, with the unexpected event disrupting their businesses, he and other members of the Tennyson Berkeley Business Association advocated for more notice from the developer and the city.
And for the most part, that happened.
However, the weekday closing time has changed.
“Starting last year, that began to change,” Fankhauser said. “Through our observations, we found that the majority of the closures were actually being approved on Saturdays and Sundays. We received no information whatsoever as to why that change was occurring.”
It was a disaster for Feral and other companies.
“About half of our sales are on Saturdays and 70 to 80 percent on the weekends,” Funkhouser said.
So why is DOTI issuing permits to close roads and sidewalks on weekends?
DOTI spokeswoman Cindy Karbaschi said one of the agency’s main goals is to keep traffic flowing, especially during weekday commute times, which means the city will only issue permits on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
But on weekends, the city will allow closures from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., giving businesses more time to get their cranes in and out.
Weekday permits often result in longer shutdown times than weekend permits because it takes companies more than seven hours to complete work.
- Did you know that? We dedicated our entire street week to Tennyson.
And local businesses aren’t the only factor DOTI considers: It’s not just residents who are affected by closures, but local fire departments and schools as well.
But Funkhouser said Tennyson’s closure will have an even bigger impact on everyone over the weekend.
“Obviously, we all know about the traffic issues and congestion issues that we have in Denver, but Tennyson Street is not a commuter road,” Funkhouser said. “It’s not a road that people drive on to get to work.”
Moving the crane loading to weekends was partly a safety measure, but doing so would have been counterproductive, Funkhouser said.
“Doing this on a weekend creates safety issues,” he said. “Traffic on Tennyson Street at peak Saturday hour is four to five times higher than it is on a weekday, and you’re literally parking a crane in the middle of the road.”
The agency has told business owners that it will consider whether to avoid weekend closures on a case-by-case basis, but doing so would require approval from multiple people within the agency, slowing the response.
The business owners met with City Council Member Amanda Sandoval, who mediated the talks with DOTI.
Sandoval, whose family ran a business in the area that suffered countless construction-related closures, said he understands the frustration of business owners.
A few years ago, she worked with the local business association and the city to try to stop the store from closing during the holidays when shoppers increase.
She also explored the possibility of closing off side streets over the weekend rather than Tennyson Street, but doing so proved too much of a hassle.
“The city is too busy to be in the delicate position of simply agreeing to keep local collection points open while other side streets are closed for the summer,” she said. “It’s just too complicated.”
Still, she acknowledged that frequent closures have left shops and restaurants struggling to make ends meet.
The city provides funding to help businesses affected by extended construction closures, but it doesn’t cover one-time events. Most of Tennyson’s closures last only a day or two while cranes are brought in and taken out, and don’t cause ongoing inconvenience, so those businesses aren’t eligible for city assistance.
Ultimately, Sandoval believes, businesses will benefit from hundreds of new customers in the area.
Funkhouser agrees. He just wishes the city would plan around neighborhood business patterns and stop closing stores during peak seasons.
“This law is devastating some of the businesses on our street at a time when things are already pretty tough,” Funkhouser said.
