Denver: By Car

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By Car

Rental-car companies include Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, and National. All have airport and downtown representatives.

Reaching Denver by car is fairly easy, except during rush hour when the interstates (and downtown) get congested. Interstate highways 70 and 25 intersect near downtown; an entrance to I-70 is just outside the airport.

When you're looking for an address within Denver, make sure you know whether it's a street or avenue. Speer Boulevard runs alongside Cherry Creek from northwest to southeast through downtown; numbered streets run parallel to Speer and most are one-way. Colfax Avenue (U.S. 287) runs east-west through downtown; numbered avenues run parallel to Colfax. Broadway runs north-south. Other main thoroughfares include Colorado Boulevard (north-south) and Alameda Avenue (east-west). Try to avoid driving in the area during rush hour, when traffic gets heavy. Interstates 25 and 225 are particularly slow going given the long-term Transportation Expansion Project (T-REX), which will eventually add a light-rail system along the highways, plus bicycle lanes and other improvements.

Parking

Finding an open meter has become increasingly difficult in downtown Denver, especially during peak times such as Rockies games and weekend nights. Additionally, most meters have two-hour limits until 10 PM, and at 25 for 10 minutes in some downtown areas, parking in Denver is currently more expensive than in New York or Chicago. However, there's no shortage of pay lots ($5 to $25 per day).