The city of Durango in 2017 is going to redesign the way traffic flows along College Drive and East Eighth Avenue, and also is considering reducing lanes on East Third Avenue.
The city plans to reduce the number of lanes on College Drive and East Eighth Avenue from four to three. Along College Drive from Main Avenue to East Eighth Avenue, and on East Eighth Avenue from Highway 3 to College Drive there will be one lane in each direction and a center turn lane.
The city expects to spend $200,000 designing the project, which is expected to slow traffic and make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists, said Amber Blake, transportation and sustainability director.
Reducing the number of lanes for cars will make room for bike lanes, and the Durango City Council asked the staff this month to examine including a lane, or two, for bikes on College Drive and Eighth Avenue that would be separated by vertical barriers, such as plastic poles. They also asked the staff to examine changing the traffic flow along East Third Avenue, which could be a similar, but separate project.
If the city installed separated bike lanes along College or Eighth Avenue they would be the first in the city. It could provide a connection between the path along Goeglein Gulch and downtown, Mayor Christina Rinderle said.
“It’s going to make it safer, it’s going to make it more user friendly,” she said in a recent meeting.
City staff had been considering bike lanes on either side of College Drive with a two-foot painted buffer. Another option is a single, separated lane for two-way bicycle traffic.
Vertical barriers prevent vehicles from using the bikes lanes to turn, but they could also present problems for snow removal, Blake said.
If the city wanted to test separated bike lanes, the staff could install vertical barriers that could break away, Blake said.
The council also discussed the benefits of reducing the lanes on East Third Avenue from two in each direction to one.
This could make room for a bike lane and slow traffic, Councilor Dick White said.
“If that could be looked at in some due course, I think the neighbors would be delighted,” he said.
The city is planning to do a traffic study in this area next year and the East Third Avenue idea will be wrapped into that, Blake said.
One of the challenges to a lane reduction would be the parking that is allowed in one lane on Sunday.
It likely could not be accommodated, Blake said.
Before the city makes any changes to the lanes on East Third Avenue, staff will meet with churches and the neighbors.
The Boulevard Neighborhood Association has asked the council to help slow traffic along East Third all year, association board member Mike Todt said.
“It’s become dangerous,” he said.
The association asked for stop signs, flashing speed signs and bike lanes.
A reconfiguration of the lanes could help address their concerns.
“It would slow traffic, and we would all support that,” he said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
