Denver’s mayor says he shares the sense of urgency expressed by pedestrian, bicycling and transit advocates who want the city to channel more money to projects aimed at helping residents get around easier.

Michael Hancock sees fast-growing Denver at a turning point. He says he plans to deliver in coming months by making “bold commitments” for the next three to five years that could draw on borrowing, new revenue sources or other means to make it more attractive to move through the city without driving on its increasingly clogged roads.

“We’ve got a short window,” Hancock said in an interview. “We better address these mobility issues. Otherwise, people are going to leave the city faster than they came.”

City and business leaders say there is plenty of room for the city to make a difference. Transit ridership is stagnant or even declining among downtown commuters, who often receive parking passes from employers. Meanwhile, both the city’s bike network and the Regional Transportation District’s bus network outside downtown have sizable gaps.

And groups such as WalkDenver are pushing for the city to make intersections and walkways safer for pedestrians.

Still unclear is how much Hancock’s administration will propose spending on mobility initiatives, and to what extent he will appeal to the state and federal governments for assistance.

The mayor said in a sit-down interview with Denver Post TV that the mobility initiative that results from various task forces and working groups that are meeting now won’t be cheap.

“When you think about the price tag, it’s quite the price tag,” Hancock said. “We’re talking about probably well in excess of $1 billion worth of infrastructure needs that we have in the city (including deferred maintenance). The city of Denver can’t do it by itself — we’re going to do everything we can to work to close the gap for multiple years.

“But in reality, we have to have a placeholder for the federal and state governments to play a role.”

Squabbling over transportation spending at the state Capitol leaves plenty of doubt over the likelihood of more state dollars flowing to Denver. But Hancock cited President Donald Trump’s talk about a potential plan, still taking shape, for big federal investments in infrastructure projects nationally.

City bond could boost initiative

Hancock is eyeing one potentially lucrative local source strongly: a planned bond issuance that city leaders plan to take to Denver voters in November. It could raise upward of $500 million for capital projects of all kinds — not only for transportation.

“We’re going to have to make very tough decisions,” Hancock said.

A spokeswoman said tentative plans call for finalizing more details of Hancock’s mobility initiative in the spring. It likely will draw in part on working groups involved in the formulation of new transportation-related citywide plans under the “Denveright” program.

The mayor has faced plenty of pressure during his second term to address traffic, pedestrian safety and missing sidewalks across Denver.

City Council members including Paul Kashmann for the last year have pushed for the city to take a more active role on sidewalks, perhaps by creating an assistance program for homeowners to build or fix their walks. (City ordinance puts the responsibility for sidewalks on the property owner.)

But Hancock has insisted on a broader initiative that also factors in the city’s other needs on the transportation front.

Plans bring some political risk

There are political risks in rebalancing competing interests — by, say, funding projects intended to encourage biking or transit ridership by reducing lanes on some city streets for cars, as traffic continues to intensify. A months-long pilot of a two-way separated bike lane on South Broadway, for instance, has spurred some backlash among businesses upset over lost parking spaces.

More recently, the council has struggled to reformulate a parking exemption for small lots that’s come under fire because of neighborhood fears over micro-housing developments.

Hancock and his appointees have been talking more about their mobility plans lately, and some activists are taking notice.

Streetsblog Denver, a news website that advocates for walking, biking and transit solutions in cities, long has pushed Denver officials to move quicker on policies buttressing alternative transportation options and on Vision Zero, Hancock’s announced goal of eliminating traffic-related deaths and serious injuries.

But editor David Sachs’ story about Hancock’s remarks to a bicycling conference this month carried a hopeful headline: “It Sounds Like Hancock Is Serious About Prioritizing People Over Cars.”

Last week, as part of a Downtown Denver Partnership breakfast panel on increasing mobility options, Sachs laid out one challenge for city leaders — while framing it in a way Hancock likely wouldn’t.

“It’s too easy to drive,” Sachs said. “It’s not enough to make transit better and biking better, which the city is very, very slowly doing. But they get it. We have to make driving harder — and that’s really hard to say, politically — but are we going to just do that after the traffic gets really, really bad?

“Or are we going to plan ahead, which is what cities should be doing?”