Opinion: Denver Quebec Street native grasses will displace geese, prevent pedestrian crossings

The medians on Quebec Street now feature native plants and wildflowers instead of Kentucky bluegrass.Photo byDavid Heitz

The Quebec Street medians, which are right outside my building, seemingly have become overgrown with unsightly weeds. But as opposed to neglecting the median, the city is actually giving it more attention. The vast green expanse of Kentucky bluegrass has been replaced with native plants and grasses.

In addition to being good for the ecosystem (the bees are thriving) the new landscape saves millions of gallons of water annually, according to the city's website.

Pedestrians dart across raceway-like traffic

Several residents of Fusion Studios, where I live, commonly darted across lanes of traffic and onto the median to cross over to Walmart. A crosswalk is just steps away from Fusion’s front door, but many residents choose not to use it. Although the city recently legalized jaywalking, crossing Quebec outside of a crosswalk is incredibly dangerous as cars fly down the thoroughfare at excessive speeds and run red lights. Making the median impassable to pedestrians may reduce incidents the illegal crossing.

Geese use medians as an inter-flight landing pad

Hundreds of geese land on this median during the winter. However, with the native grasses, roosting there could be difficult now.Photo byDavid Heitz

But there is another group that will be displaced by the native grasses. The vast expanse of ground covered by the median previously was used by geese in the winter as a place to land between flights. Hundreds of geese would fill the median, creating a remarkable sight.

Now, the geese will not be able to land amongst the weeds.

De-greening 10 acres

“This project transforms 10 acres of water-intensive, non-functional bluegrass on four medians, between Smith Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, to a native prairie landscape that’s representative of traditional Colorado landscapes,” the city reports on its website. “The site will support pollinator species while enhancing the beauty of the space and conserving more than 8.5 million gallons of water annually after establishment. Once the project is complete and the native vegetation is established after two to three years, mowing and maintenance requirements will also be significantly reduced.”

I am not surprised the city planted hearty, stiff, dry tall plants on the median. I expect it was only a matter of time before homeless encampments sprouted on the median. I imagine the City and County of Denver thought of that possibility, too. But I am definitely going to miss the mass gatherings of geese.