4 DECEMBER 11-17, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 11 CHEERS TO THE 50 TOP BARS There are a lot of watering holes in the Mile High, but these are the top shelf. 6 WHEELER DEALERS Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee gets a meeting with the mayor...fi nally. BY BENNITO L. KELTY 8 GLOW UP! Night Lights Denver brightens the D&F Tower with art, including Charly Fasano’s stop- motion fi lm. BY TONI TRESCA 17 LIT UP How this Denver concert- lighting designer made it to the big leagues. BY TEAGUE BOHLEN 8 Culture 11 Cafe 17 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 18 21 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 22 HIGH NOTES ............................................. XX VOLUME 49 NUMBER 15 DECEMBER 11-17, 2025 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun News Editor Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Bennito L. 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KELTY, DECEMBER 4 W I L L T H E C I R C L E B E U N B R O K E N ? As a 45-year-resident of West Washington Park living by the new Exposition Bikeway, I love the traffi c circles. They not only slow traf- fi c down, they stop it altogether. It’s fun to see a stuck Amazon truck having to reverse and go forward inches at a time to get around the sharp curves. Neighbors have begun decorat- ing the poles in the center with plastic fl owers in summer, pumpkins and corn stalks in the fall, and now a Christmas tree with ornaments. No one seems to understand “right of way” in a circle, and there’s nothing like a near crash to wake you up on a morning commute. It’s better than coffee. In England, traffi c circles are called “roundabouts,” but they used to be called “circuses,” after the Latin word “circle,” so you have the famous Piccadilly Circus. I think we should call all the new traffi c circles a “circus” and name them with a sign after prominent politicians, i.e., the Mayor Mike Johnston Circus. There are enough circles for each Denver City Council person to have a circus named after them. Rich Grant Denver I have lived in Wash Park West since 2019 and have received multiple surveys from the city per year about traffi c calming, bike infrastructure and specifi cally traffi c circles. Myself and most of my neighbors are strongly in favor, because reckless drivers regularly endanger children playing in their front yards and pedestrians/cyclists in the neighborhood. There is no shortage of documentation available for any resident to easily learn about planned calming corridors, and a signifi cant number of us specifi cally asked for the increased rollout of these in our neighborhood. Publish- ing that this is some in-the-dark campaign is absolutely ludicrous, and the vast majority of the voices on your article are opposed to traf- fi c calming for “aesthetics” and “free parking.” These are classic NIMBY talking points that have allowed a loud minority to dictate the safety of the streets I walk and bike on and my neighbors children play in and use to get to and from school. I fi nd this article in bad faith at best and counter to Denver’s recent stellar progress in increasing road safety for all users. Bryant Webb Denver As a Wash Park resident, I was pleased to see your article on roundabouts. Many of these have been placed at low-volume intersections where they weren’t needed. Several intersections are too small, especially when making a left-hand turn, and they’re defi nitely too small for emergency vehicles. Others, however, seem appropriately placed and reduce speed. Overall, the roundabouts are overkill for a number of intersections, while other problematic intersections are ig- nored. Similarly, requests to the city for a safe crosswalk across Downing and Ohio, which has heavy pedestrian traffi c, was ignored. Going forward, planning that incorporates more input from the neighborhood would make for wider acceptance of projects that affect the community and the use of resources. Harry Drabkin Denver The only person who doesn’t love a traffi c circle or a roundabout are people who don’t know how to drive. If you don’t understand how to properly use a roundabout, you probably shouldn’t have your driver’s license. And that means every employee at Westword, but for real. Joshua Miller Denver These tiny roundabouts are not only stu- pid but dangerous. They are great when constructed in a location that has enough space for them to work properly, but that is rarely the case in our narrow streets in Denver neighborhoods. I have narrowly missed hitting people at night on rented electric bikes and scooters. Dave Cleland Denver The Denver government is hell-bent on destroying the aesthetics of all of our neighborhoods. Rob Farol Denver
