‘Please Stop Hitting Our Houses’: Park Hill Residents Demand Real Safety Changes
Park Hill residents are demanding action after years of dangerous crashes at one of the neighborhood’s most notorious intersections: 17th Avenue and Monaco Parkway. Homeowner Dave Stoll says he’s called 911 dozens of times and has had cars slam into his house three separate times in just the past 16 months, all because drivers heading east on 17th must suddenly jog left — a design he says “wasn’t made for modern traffic or modern speeds.” Nearly 300 neighbors have joined the push for major safety upgrades, and Councilmembers Darrell Watson and Shontel Lewis recently stood with residents to call attention to the problem. Watson admitted he felt unsafe just standing in Stoll’s yard.
This week, Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure added fresh lane striping and new signage aimed at helping drivers anticipate the lane shift earlier. While neighbors appreciate the gesture, many — including Stoll — argue it won’t slow the speeding that causes most of the wrecks. A city study last year found that 76% of drivers exceed the 30 mph limit, with some clocked near 100 mph. DOTI officials say signs alone won’t stop extreme speeders but insist they must balance engineering across the entire city. Though 17th Avenue has been reclassified from an arterial to a neighborhood collector, the speed limit cannot be lowered without physical street changes, which aren’t currently planned.
Frustrated residents are taking their own protective measures: one neighbor installed a flashing electronic warning sign reading “Please stop hitting our houses,” while Stoll lined his lawn with large boulders to block incoming cars. DOTI plans to study the intersection for six months to evaluate whether the new striping reduces crashes and says additional ideas remain on the table, though many popular requests — like speed bumps, rumble strips, or concrete barriers — come with major drawbacks, noise issues, or historical restrictions. Despite differing opinions on solutions, both neighbors and city officials agree on one thing: the intersection is unsafe, and fixing it must remain a priority.
