Sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks - yes, please
CDOT has announced main streets projects in phases. Here’s where you can find some of those lists:
Many of these projects pale in size to a massive highway project or bridge.
But I’d argue that focusing dollars to make the places we eat, drink, shop and live safer and more people-friendly should be a top priority.
A look at these projects shows they are serious about doing the small things that will make our main streets safer and more people-friendly.
Here are some examples:
Avon - Crossing the street to get to the bus stop
It seems ridiculous to undermine someone’s ability to ride a bus by making it life-threatening to access the bus stop. So the Town of Avon and CDOT will add four new crosswalks on US 6, a state highway and also a main street.
But when I say crosswalk, I’m not talking about a few stripes that rely on a pedestrian to have faith a driver going 45mph will see them if they step out onto the road.
The project includes measures to calm the speed of the cars approaching the bus stops and an activated rapid-flashing beacon.
Who will this project benefit? This stretch of US 6 has apartments, condos, houses, restaurants, a major shopping area and an access point to Beaver Creek Ski Mountain.
This is a main street that doesn’t need more cars. So by making it safer and easier to access the transit stops and reorienting this stretch to begin to rebalance it towards all the people using it, we’ll see much higher quality of life benefits.
Berthoud - Mind the gap becomes fill the gap with a trail connector
Across Colorado, there are numerous trails that people use to walk, bike, and roll. But too often those trails have gaps. I’m not talking a “watch-your-step” kind of gap. I’m talking a “the-trail-ends-now-try-to-cross-a-road-with-lots-of-cars-flying-by” gap.
In Berthoud, they are closing that gap, not only by adding in pedestrian infrastructure like a refuge (a place of concrete in the middle of the road for pedestrians to wait as they cross) and beacons (flashy lights that alert drivers of your presence) but also by extending a section of the regional trail separated from the roadway, closing the gap in this area between homes, main streets and the trail system.
Fort Collins - Completing the street
Laporte Avenue in Fort Collins looks like too many of our main streets. A few lanes of pavement for cars that just sort of fades out on the edges.
Confident bicyclists and pedestrians or people left with no choice may brave those sides of the road. But it’s anything but recruiting for the vast majority of us.
According to project details, “The Laporte Corridor Project seeks to improve vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian safety along the Laporte Avenue corridor by addressing deficient sidewalks, adding raised bicycle lanes, adding a center reversible turn lane, adding a signalized pedestrian crossing, and upgrading the roadway with curb and gutter, and other traffic improvements.”
I think the “before” image and the project rendering tell the best story.
