The DNC parade route to nowhere?

Denver has finally released a designated parade route to be used by activists during the Democratic National Convention in August, but the charted course has a dead end. Literally.


On Thursday, per a binding legal agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, the city disclosed a map of the route sans a definitive end point—a detail the Denver mayor’s office states is still being planned.


The route begins at Civic Center Park, near the State Capitol, and trails down Colfax Avenue to Speer Boulevard until reaching Larimer Street, where it abruptly halts several blocks short of the convention site at the Pepsi Center.


Take a look:


(Image/MapQuest)

The city states that an end to the route will be within “walking distance” of the planned demonstration zone (highlighted in red) across from the Pepsi Center, but the exact location has not been disclosed and there is no clear indication of when it will be.


Almost a month ago the the city of St. Paul released a complete planned parade route for the Republican National Convention taking place in September, with both a start point and an end point.


Parades on the Denver route will only be permitted between 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. during the convention, and the city has yet to form a schedule.

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.