Denver Green Continuum: Streets

Cover image of Denver Green Continuum

The Denver Green Continuum: Streets (Continuum: Streets) guidelines are designed expand the extent and rate of implementation of green infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of the increasingly warming climate and protect Denver’s high quality of life. These guidelines provide a more robust, versatile, and practical set of GI tools and solutions that are applicable to all types of city streets and conditions. The Continuum: Streets focuses on strategies that can manage stormwater and cool city streets while providing additional co-benefits.

The Continuum: Streets does this by defining five levels of green that range from simply adding vegetation with proper growing conditions to streetscapes, to planting trees in sunken landscapes, to fully engineered stormwater quality planters that store regulatory water quality volumes. By offering a greater suite of green infrastructure practices, Denver can more rapidly implement green infrastructure solutions.  The Continuum: Streets is a companion document to the Denver Complete Streets Design Guidelines. While this document focuses on streets and the public right-of-way, the practices detailed within can be implemented on both public and private spaces.  

Denver Green Continuum: Streets(PDF, 14MB)

Report Sections

  • Introduction and Vision
    • Introduction and Purpose 
    • The Changing Climate 
    • Green Infrastructure as a Natural Climate Solution 
    • Using the Continuum 
  • Design Principles 
    • Stormwater 
    • Urban Heat & Tree Canopy 
  • Levels of Green 
    • Levels of Green 
      • High Performing Landscapes (LoG1) 
      • Shallow Infiltrating Landscapes (LoG2) 
      • Flow-through Landscapes (LoG3) 
      • Infiltrating Control Measures (LoG4) 
      • Volume Capture Control Measures (LoG5) 
    • Hydrologic Performance & Criteria Analysis 
    • Quantifying Heat Mitigation 
  • Control Measures & Components 
    • Design Strategies 
    • Stormwater Control Measures 
    • Stormwater Management Components 
  • Application of Strategies 
    • Planning 
    • Design 
  • Appendices