Regular Washington Park users may soon notice a different traffic flow and new signage on the heavily-used loop road around the park.

The loop is a hotbed for bikes, walkers, strollers, roller bladers and leashed dogs, but the increased crowds at one of the city’s most popular parks have spurred safety concerns among both Denver Parks and Recreation and area residents.

“It’s booming out there,” parks deputy manager Scott Gilmore said. “The more use, the more conflicts we’re having out there.”

For the past year and a half Denver Parks and Recreation and area residents have discussed how to make the 2.2-mile loop safer for pedestrians and cyclists. The city published a recommendation report on March 5.

Concerns stemmed from cyclists riding at high speeds, dogs on leashes longer than the permitted 6 feet and pedestrians walking in the bike lane. All of these have caused accidents and conflicts, only some of which are reported.

The loop is also used by motorists who park by the recreation center or other areas around the park, and some of those intersections have caused problems.

“Speed was a concern because people would gain speed going down the hill by the recreation center,” said Cindy Johnstone, board president for Friends and Neighbors of Washington Park. “It’s just a very chaotic intersection.”

Johnstone noted that several accidents at the park within recent years kick-started conversations between residents and the parks department.

The final report found that most of the park users are happy with the current setup and problems stem from users not following the rules in place.

The first idea to tackle that issue is to improve the signage at the park to alert people which lanes they should be in for biking and walking, while also repainting some of the lines on the road to make lanes more clear.

“Part of the effort is recognizing the behavioral issues that cause people to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” park user and nearby resident Phil Demosthenes said.

Gilmore said he was able to get between $25,000-$30,000 to begin some of the implementation this year on the sign improvements, but that would be just the beginning in his mind.

“This plan gives us a way forward,” Gilmore said.

The signs in 2015 are the first step, but Demosthenes said he doesn’t want people thinking that’s the only change.

“We don’t want people thinking it’s all just signs, that’s it for a little bit of money this year,” he said.

In 2016, if Parks and Rec can secure approximately $500,000 for capital improvements, a parking lot reconfiguration would be in order to reduce conflicts between drivers and cyclists. To implement everything in the 95-page report would cost approximately $2 million according to Gilmore.

An increased park ranger presence is also likely to enforce some of these rules.

“I think enforcement has to be mandated, or the whole thing will be largely for naught,” regular park user Jim Carlson said.

Denver Parks and Recreation spokesman Jeff Green said the rangers have the power to ticket, but they warn park users and only ticket when necessary. He said park rangers made approximately 95,000 contacts in 2014, but only issued between 1,200-1,300 tickets, mostly for people climbing on the rocks at Red Rocks Park.

Johnstone praised Denver Parks and Recreation’s efforts in moving forward with this plan and listening to park users, bicycle advocates and Washington Park residents. She hopes that more meetings are to come before more items in the plan are implemented.

“We want to still participate in prioritizing the implementation,” she said. “Wash Park has a character to it. We don’t want to see it looking like a road.”

Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joe_vacc