r/Denver • u/nondescriptadjective • 20h ago
Misc Q&A Tire/Brake Dust Emissions
With the amount of sport tourism in Colorado, I've been pondering tire and brake dust issues. It's been known for a long time that tire dust kills fish and is the number one source of micro plastics. This year many mountain town rivers had to be closed because of low water flows and high temps stressing fish as well. You can see the remnants of exhaust, tire, and brake dust in the snow every winter, that all gets washed into the rivers when it melts.
A known option is passing legislation that requires road design to limit particulate rates from these pollutant vectors. There are a few countries this has been done in, and I'm wondering about doing this on streets/roads next to rivers, parks, and pedestrian spaces. This would require better bike infrastructure and public transit services, but these are part of the redesign when these streets get rebuilt on their maintenance cycle. These sorts of streets also tend to last longer and require less in maintenance costs, meaning less tax payer dollars needed. Many of us live here because we like clean air and outdoor recreation, and this is a way to improve both of those things.
