Residents report safer passage as Lakewood tunnel is cleaned and police increase patrols

by: Hanna Powers | Fox31

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — A pedestrian tunnel along Wadsworth Boulevard that neighbors recently called unsafe looks markedly different less than 24 hours after FOX31’s initial report aired Monday night.

By Tuesday afternoon, construction crews had painted over graffiti, cleared trash and moved along people who had been loitering, and Lakewood police officers were on site patrolling and confiscating contraband, according to observations by FOX31 at the scene.

Residents say the change is obvious.

“I just feel more calm here now than … two days ago,” one commuter told FOX31 on Wednesday. “Two days [ago] I rode the bus later around 5 or 6, and I did see some of that. But at this time, I am not seeing that.”

Earlier this week, neighbors described the temporary tunnel—installed to help pedestrians cross busy Wadsworth Boulevard during construction—as a magnet for illegal activity.

“Drug use, people sleeping in there…people having cots and beds in there, sleeping, doing all sorts of drug activity, indecent exposure,” Lakewood resident Corey said.

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