Junction Street is slated for new bike lanes and smoother pavement this summer.

The city plans to start repaving Junction Street from Virginia Street to city limits in July.

The city will be replacing the top 2.5 inches of the asphalt as part of scheduled maintenance, said Assistant City Manager Amber Blake.

In the second phase next year, the city will repave the road from West Second Avenue to Virgina Street.

Painting new bike lanes after crews resurface the road will prevent shadow lanes from being created, which can be confusing for drivers, she said.

On either side of the road, new 6-foot bike lanes are planned from the intersection of West Second Avenue and 25th Street to the city limits, she said.

They will replace on-street parking and they are planned to be finished this summer, she said.

Narrowing the travel lanes for cars should encourage drivers to slow down, Blake said.

“There will traffic calming effects,” she said.

As part of the project, this summer the city also plans to install a rapid flashing beacon at the intersection of West Second Avenue and West 25th Street.

The beacon will be triggered by pedestrians and help drivers take notice when those on foot cross the street at West Second Avenue and 25th Street, she said.

The area was identified in the 2012 and 2016 multimodal master plans for improvements, in part, because pedestrian traffic funnels to West Second and 25th Street.

A pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection of Clovis and Junction Street is also planned.

A neighborhood meeting about the project was held on Wednesday and residents overwhelmingly supported the project, Blake said.

Many expressed support for more pedestrian improvements, such as a pedestrian connection to Dalla Mountain Park, she said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com