The intersection at S Cherokee St and W Archer Pl should be a four way stop.

This crossing connects residents and visitors to and from our neighborhood institutions: Dailey Park and playground, the adjacent Spruce School, and La Familia Rec Center and Hirschfeld Towers on the opposite sides of the park.

It is precarious for drivers. Every day, you hear horns from near misses. Approaching along Archer Pl from S Broadway and the east, drivers must pull into the crosswalk to evaluate oncoming traffic. It is currently a two way stop that feels likes a four way stop for many drivers. This leads to confusion about right of way as drivers on Cherokee stop, either mistakenly or for pedestrians, and drivers on Archer incorrectly expect Cherokee drivers to stop.

It feels like four way stop because it should be. 

Additional vehicles complicate sightlines and expectations. This stretch of Cherokee St is a "sharrow" bikeway. Two RTD bus lines (52 and ART)  have stops at the other end of the block on each side of Cherokee St. Veos and other motorized bikes weave their way through traffic. A self-driving Waymo seems to have its home base in a public parking spot by the park.

More concerningly, this crossing is used by especially vulnerable and unpredictable pedestrians. Although Cherokee has a pedestrian sign on the north side of intersection, drivers cannot see the starts of the crosswalks in either direction, so drivers simply do not stop.

Families flock to the park: in the morning with young children, after school lets out, and for evening gatherings including a weekly neighborhood potluck. Caregivers with strollers push their precious cargo into the crosswalk to establish a line of sight beyond parked cars, only for cars that cannot see them entering the crosswalk to continue driving inches past the stroller's front wheel. Kids riding bikes and scooters face a tense downhill stop when exiting the park. 

Hirschfeld Towers is home to seniors and adults with disabilities. Many residents use power wheelchairs and other assistive devices to travel through the neighborhood, including driving in the road where sidewalks are too bumpy to be comfortable or passable.

Any evening of the week you can find local recreation, from twice weekly volleyball to pickup basketball to organized youth sports from La Familia Rec Center, either at the playing fields or at the center just across the street. Balls roll into the street from the playground or get dropped accidentally.

A semi-permanent reminder that off leash dogs are not allowed in the park is a good indicator that the park is a destination for neighborhood dog-walkers.

Students and families from Spruce School (located directly on the corner) cross the crosswalk on the way to drop off and pick up, and students wear safety vests to pass during the day on the way to the playground or rec center.

Not every driver who passes this intersection is a bad driver. The intersection design makes it hard to see pedestrians and difficult to predict other drivers' behavior. A four way stop would give all of this intersection's diverse set of users enough breathing room and predictability to use it safely.

Residents have been requesting this for more than a year. Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez' office shared at the 10/13/26 Baker Historic Neighborhood Association meeting that they have requested additional funding for traffic projects like this one, but encouraged individuals to contact 311 to generate request data to prioritize this stop specifically. In addition to signing this petition, please call 311 and ask to make a stop sign request here at Cherokee and Archer Pl. DOTI has already denied the request out of concern for "stop sign fatigue" due to the presence of four way stops on either end of Cherokee, but this intersection is frustrating at best and dangerous at worst, and we won't wait for someone to get seriously hurt.

Please, keep our children and neighbors safe by making Cherokee and Archer a four way stop.