{"id":1681,"date":"2026-06-17T12:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1681"},"modified":"2026-06-17T12:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:03:24","slug":"bow-mars-plan-to-install-a-gate-to-reduce-traffic-has-denver-littleton-ready-to-retaliate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1681","title":{"rendered":"Bow Mar\u2019s plan to install a gate to reduce traffic has Denver, Littleton ready to retaliate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A monthslong battle over vehicle access to an upscale south Denver suburb has turned into all-out war.<\/p>\n

Read more Judge rules transgender people won\u2019t face criminal charges for using Idaho public restrooms<\/a><\/p>\n

Bow Mar, a leafy community with homes on acre lots wedged between Denver and Littleton, made it clear this week that it is moving ahead with plans to build a gate at its northern entrance on South Sheridan Boulevard that will allow only town residents to pass in and out using remote openers.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, officials from Denver and Littleton have fired back with threats of erecting their own barriers to impede Bow Mar denizens from moving freely into their jurisdictions, calling the tiny town\u2019s proposed gate an insular and unreasonable way to try to slow drivers on its gently winding streets, which feature neither street lights nor sidewalks.<\/p>\n

Bow Mar Mayor Bryan Sperry was determined not to back down as he addressed a packed Board of Trustees meeting Monday evening. In the back of the room, residents held up signs that read \u201cProtect Bow Mar Kids\u201d and \u201cFamilies Over Shortcuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about safety \u2014 this is not about excluding others,\u201d the mayor said.<\/p>\n

Sperry held up oversized photos of the aftermath of recent vehicle collisions with walls and other structures in Bow Mar \u2014 vivid examples of motorists using the quiet community of 900 as a high-speed cut-through on their way to somewhere else.<\/p>\n

\u201cThankfully, this was not kid versus car,\u201d said Sperry, holding up a photo of stones from a smashed wall strewn across the ground.<\/p>\n

But Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn, who represents the southwest pocket of Colorado\u2019s largest city near Fort Logan National Cemetery, isn\u2019t buying it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re trying to privatize access only to the residents of Bow Mar by installing a gate that only their residents can raise,\u201d said Flynn, noting that Denver\u2019s city line abuts Bow Mar\u2019s entrance sign. \u201cWe can\u2019t have our public right of way being turned into your private driveway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Residents in two neighborhoods he represents \u2014 Bow Mar Heights and Pinehurst South \u2014 would be forced to take dangerous left turns onto West Quincy Avenue if denied the signal at South Sheridan Boulevard.<\/p>\n

Ninety people, he said, showed up \u201cenraged\u201d at a community meeting in May to speak about the gate.<\/p>\n

In turn, Denver will look into whether it should drop a barricade across South Sheridan Boulevard just north of Bow Mar\u2019s entrance so that nobody \u2014 including Bow Mar residents \u2014 can move through, he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI hope it doesn\u2019t come to that, but it is definitely one of the measures we could take if this is not resolved,\u201d Flynn said.<\/p>\n

Littleton Mayor Kyle Schlachter said his city is considering whether it\u2019s time to cut off access into Bow Mar from West Belleview Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cClosing access to a certain group of individuals does not seem fair or equitable to me,\u201d he said of Bow Mar\u2019s proposed gate on Sheridan. \u201cIt\u2019s a public street and our residents use that to get to where they are headed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Limiting access into a community has happened before in Colorado, with the small Arapahoe County town of Foxfield erecting two gates several years ago to reduce the volume of traffic cutting through the town from Parker Road.<\/p>\n

But Flynn pointed out that Foxfield\u2019s gates only operate during morning and evening rush hours, whereas Bow Mar\u2019s gate would be an around-the-clock affair.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot allow a public right of way to be used like that,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re changing the status of our right-of-way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more 3 arrested, 6 more indicted in Boulder County in $300,000 Front Range card-skimming scheme<\/a><\/p>\n

Bow Mar residents say nothing else the town has tried over the years to slow drivers has worked \u2014 be it speed bumps, roundabouts, narrowing the roads with striping, or imposing a 20 mph maximum speed throughout town.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve tried everything,\u201d Charli White, a 3-year resident of Bow Mar, told the trustees this week. \u201cIt still feels like it\u2019s not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bow Mar said it issued 294 traffic citations last year, including 127 speeding tickets and 49 traffic arrests. There were three DUI arrests in 2025. <\/p>\n

Through April this year, the town has stopped 117 drivers, with 45 speeding tickets issued and 15 traffic arrests made. Two of those drivers were suspected of being drunk.<\/p>\n

Rob Sterling, who has lived in Bow Mar for 11 years, told The Denver Post in an interview that a car smashed into his mailbox last year and left a piece of fender in his driveway.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 10 years, I have had 14 cars end up in the drainage ditch in front of my house,\u201d he said. \u201cAll they think about is getting to where they are going. They don\u2019t realize there are kids on bikes and people trying to do the speed limit \u2014 those things just get in their way.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are no commercial businesses in Bow Mar \u2014 just homes. The gate at Sheridan, which could be in operation by the end of the year, would be accessible to emergency crews and delivery services, town officials said.<\/p>\n

Bow Mar Trustee Liz Manning said those claiming that the town is trying to wall itself off from its neighbors are ignoring the fact that there are no plans by Bow Mar to control access at West Berry and West Belleview avenues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are putting a controlled access gate at Sheridan and at no other entrance,\u201d she said. \u201cOur traffic data show that by far the highest volume of cut-through traffic goes through Sheridan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manning also pointed out that while Littleton complains about Bow Mar\u2019s plans for a gate, the city has had its own gate at the entrance to Bow Mar South, a Littleton neighborhood, for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard that Littleton\u2019s position is: A gate for me and not for thee,\u201d she said wryly.<\/p>\n

Schlachter said he recognizes the mixed messaging of Littleton having its own gate in place to restrict traffic into a city neighborhood while opposing Bow Mar\u2019s plans. He said he\u2019d like to see the gate, which is not closed all the time, gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I will ask city staff to explore removal of,\u201d he said. \u201cI have never liked that gate there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Barclay Miller, a Bow Mar resident for 3 years, is concerned that with plans for hundreds more housing units to be added to neighborhoods surrounding Bow Mar, the problem of cut-through traffic is only going to get worse if the town doesn\u2019t protect itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want a tragedy to happen for us to take action,\u201d he said at the trustees meeting.<\/p>\n

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Denver Post reaches deal with city to buy out long-term lease for namesake building<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bow Mar, Colorado is planning to install a gate at its South Sheridan Boulevard entrance to limit access to residents only as a traffic control measure. Denver and Littleton and threatening to retaliate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colorado-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBow Mar\u2019s plan to install a gate to reduce traffic has Denver, Littleton ready to retaliate - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1681\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bow Mar\u2019s plan to install a gate to reduce traffic has Denver, Littleton ready to retaliate - Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bow Mar, Colorado is planning to install a gate at its South Sheridan Boulevard entrance to limit access to residents only as a traffic control measure. 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