Bump-outs, the outdoor seating spaces outside businesses and restaurants on Main Avenue in Durango, are back for the summer.
So too are test pedlet structures demonstrating how the city of Durango says Downtown’s Next Step would enhance safety and walkability on Main Avenue.
The pedlets are functionally identical to bump-outs and were installed to show the extra space – and reduced lane width on Main Avenue – that wider sidewalks would provide.
According to the city, the pedlets are being funded by a Colorado Department of Transportation Revitalize Main Street grant to the tune of $171,000, plus $42,760 from the city’s 2015 half-cent sales and use tax fund.
Twelve businesses applied to install bump-outs again this year, and construction was scheduled to begin last week, according to the city.
The bump-out program is a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic, deployed by the city in an effort to support restaurants and businesses while social distancing and other pandemic guidelines and regulations were being practiced.
In November 2022, Durango City Council approved an extension of the bump-out program for another five years. The city will reexamine the program in 2027.
Business owners, managers and patrons downtown were enthusiastic for bump-outs to return.
Maria’s Bookshop – a regular participant – will soon have plants, benches and a public piano, said owner Evan Schertz.
“We think of it as public green space downtown, just like if you were in a park,” he said. “It’s noncommercial and it’s meant to be a space for pedestrians to hang out.”
Schertz said he enjoys watching pedestrians while relaxing at the bump-out. It provides a cool space to take a breather.
“You know how it feels in the middle of the summer downtown, the sidewalks get packed and everyone’s hot, kind of stressed, doing tourist stuff with their family,” he said. “It’s fun to just watch people take a visible sigh of relief as they enter a really beautiful public space and they get to sit down and just hang out for a sec.”
He said people have told him they appreciate the refuge from the streetscape.
Schertz said he appreciates the bump-out program, and he also likes the direction the city is headed with Downtown’s Next Step.
“I don’t think our downtown is very friendly,” he said. “The streetscape wasn’t built for the pedestrian traffic that we have.”
In 2024, the city placed a pause on exploring construction funding options for Downtown’s Next Step until construction begins on a new joint city hall and police station, funding for which was approved by voters in the city’s April election via Ballot Measure 2A.
Another stipulation for the hold was that Downtown’s Next Step designs for Fifth Street to 14th Street on Main Avenue must reach 60% completion before construction funding would be considered.
The Brewers, a Pagosa Springs couple enjoying a meal in a bump-out outside Carver Brewing Co., said they appreciate the bump-outs because their dog is allowed to stay by their side, unlike when dining inside.
Barry Brewer said he and his wife visit Durango once or twice a month, mostly for doctors appointments and a bit of shopping, but they enjoy eating out at local restaurants when they make the trip.
Amy Diamond Brewer said she likes the bump-outs on Main Avenue, but she wishes they were softer on the eyes.
“I wish they had some sort of uniformity,” she said. “I know that would cost the places money because they’d have to rebuild them, but if they were uniform in design they’d just look like they fit more into here.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
