Denver Suburb Plans Gated Entry to Stop Speeding Drivers

Outrage is building over plans to turn an affluent Denver suburb into a gated town in an effort to curb dangerous driving, while neighbors argue the move simply aims to keep out what they call "peasants." Bow Mar, a quiet community with multimillion-dollar homes located about 12 miles south of Denver, has roughly 830 residents. Locals claim they are worried about drivers from nearby cities speeding through back roads just to dodge main thoroughfares.

"We just want to keep our kids safe," Dawn Fable, who has lived in Bow Mar for a decade, told The New York Times. "They're not able to play outside. Someone is going to die."

Local officials had previously suggested installing two gates at the town's entrances and shutting down a third entry point. On Monday, the Bow Mar board of trustees unanimously voted to move forward with an engineering firm in the suburb. CBS Colorado reported that the first gate could be installed by Thanksgiving.

However, the plan faces heavy pushback. Local news anchor Kyle Clark cracked on 9News that "the fancy little town in the metro area doesn't want us peasants driving through anymore." Kyle Schlachter, mayor of neighboring Littleton, stated Bow Mar had turned down offers for more speed bumps or increased traffic enforcement, apparently preferring gates instead.

"It's hurtful when your neighbor says, 'You're not welcome in our community,'" Schlachter told The Times. He also decried the plan as unfair, noting that Bow Mar residents use other cities' streets whenever they leave their tiny neighborhood. "They want to be able to use our roads, but they don't want us to use their roads," he said to the outlet. "Do we need to put up gates of our own?"

Support for turning Bow Mar into a gated town surged again this week after a car was found submerged in Bowles Lake. A dive team from South Metro Fire Rescue did not find anyone inside the vehicle, which sat in the water near the 5200 block of Lakeshore Drive. The Columbine Valley Police Department is investigating the identity of the car owner.

Bow Mar resident Liz Manning, who also serves as a town trustee, said the incident validated her fears about unsafe driving. "The concerns I have is that, at some point, this is going to involve a pedestrian and not just the lake," she told CBS Colorado last Wednesday. "We're trying to avoid a fatality."

A traffic study commissioned by the town found that about 2,000 vehicles enter Bow Mar on an average day. Most drivers are believed not to be residents. Police issued 1,260 traffic violations from the start of 2023 until this summer, with half being speeding tickets. Authorities had proposed two gates and closing a third entry point, but now it seems only one gate will be installed for now.

Manning said the town tried multiple measures to address driving concerns without success. "We have slowed our speed limit to 20 miles an hour," she said. "We have installed a multitude of speed bumps. We've narrowed our roads.

We have stepped up enforcement, yet these problems persist." That is the current reality in a small pocket of southern Denver where officials are fighting over who gets to drive on public streets. Earlier this year, authorities floated a plan to install gates at Sheridan Boulevard and Prospect Drive, with West Tufts Avenue facing closure as well. The idea was that Bow Mar residents would receive RFID tags allowing their cars through while others were turned away.

Right now, however, the focus seems limited to construction work at just the Sheridan entrance. Town leaders have stated they intend to wait and watch how this first project plays out before erecting any other barriers. This cautious approach stands in sharp contrast to the friction it is creating with neighbors. Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn has pushed back hard, urging Bow Mar to collaborate rather than isolate its community.

"They haven't tried cooperating with Denver and Littleton," Flynn told CBS Colorado, pointing out that effort on that front is conspicuously missing. His criticism cut deep into the logic of the situation. Bow Mar, home to roughly 830 people, sits as a quiet suburb just twelve miles south of Denver. Yet its isolationist tactics are drawing fire from city officials who see them as moving hazards onto someone else's property.

"They want to solve their traffic hazards on the backs of my residents by giving them the traffic hazards," Flynn said, highlighting a clear double standard in how crash risks are being managed. "How many of those crashes are Bow Mar residents?" he asked, challenging the assumption that only locals cause accidents. He noted the uncertainty about exactly who is behind the wheel when a vehicle ends up in the lake, questioning whether every driver involved happens to live inside those specific town limits.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has stepped in to mediate, telling CBS Colorado that his office would partner with Bow Mar to find a solution that works for everyone. The stance from City Hall was clear: public roads belong to the public. That statement came last month through an official release to Denver7, reinforcing the belief that no neighborhood should lock its gates against neighbors simply because of where they live.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Bow Mar board of trustees and mayor for comment as this dispute continues to heat up. The core issue remains how regulations and local directives shape daily life in these communities. With enforcement already on the rise, adding physical barriers could deepen resentment without solving the underlying safety concerns. It is a standoff where one side fears for their streets while another accuses them of hoarding public space. Only time will tell if cooperation can break this cycle or if more gates will only serve to widen the divide between neighbors who share the same roads but different visions for how they should be used.