Two resident advisory boards gave slightly different views on when a pedestrian underpass should be built near 12th Street and Camino del Rio in Durango.
The boards – Multimodal, and Parks and Recreation – made separate recommendations to Durango City Council, which will give final direction about when the Camino underpass should be built.
The Multimodal Advisory Board declined to rank the so-called Camino Crossing underpass in its draft Capital Improvement Plan, but said it should be funded sometime in 2026.
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board ranked the underpass as No. 2 on its list of projects and said it should be considered for construction in 2025.
Ture Nycum, director of Parks and Recreation, said there just wasn’t alignment between the two advisory boards.
ven though the advisory boards have made their recommendations, capital-improvement projects are reviewed by the multimodal board annually and are subject to change, said Devin King, with the Multimodal Transportation Divison. And, City Council ultimately has the final say on what projects to pursue and when.
The Camino Crossing underpass has a projected construction cost of $3.7 million. The Multimodal Transportation Division is working to secure grant funding of about $2 million to help fund it. But both advisory boards speculate the real cost for the underpass could be much higher by 2025 or 2026 as a result of rising construction costs in general. And ultimately, the actual cost won’t be known until the design phase, which is now underway, has been completed.
The Camino Crossing uses funding from a half-cent sales tax that Durango residents reinstated in 2015. Total costs for the design phase are expected to reach $338,851, according to the Camino Crossing project page on durangogov.org.
The Multimodal Transportation Division ran into a roadblock during its design phase because a property owner at Town Plaza wasn’t keen on the idea of selling or leasing a piece of property to the city, or allowing surveys to be conducted, even though tenants at Town Plaza have expressed support for the project, King said.
But multimodal staff members expressed optimism that the hang-up can be resolved.
The initial 2027 construction year for the underpass alarmed Tim Walsworth, executive director of the Durango Business Improvement District, who has been keeping track of the Multimodal and Parks and Recreation advisory boards’ discussions about the Camino Crossing.
On Friday, he said that while the BID wants to see the project funded sooner – in 2023 if possible – he understands there are competing interests.
“We wish it could be funded next year, but we understand that there’s a process for these things and stuff changes around,” he said. “... We’ll start working on city councilors to see if there’s any way for it to be funded as soon as possible.”
On June 29, the BID included a section called “Safe Crossing of Camino del Rio in Jeopardy” in its newsletter and encouraged residents and businesses to advocate for funding the underpass sooner than 2027. At the time, Walsworth expressed concern the project was being put on the back burner and may never be funded.
Sarah Kelly, chairwoman of the Multimodal Advisory Board, said in an email that the board voted to recommend several other major construction projects for 2023-26, including:
- Pedestrian and bicycle improvements on Roosa Avenue from Ninth Street to El Paso Street.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act Phase 2 Transition Plan Design and Construction.
- Downtown’s Next Step project.
- Midtown Safety and Connectivity Project at the intersection of East Third Avenue, 15th Street and Florida Road.
- A 32nd Street traffic calming project.
cburney@durangoherald.com
