The city of Durango is hosting a series of meetings in June that will be all about Downtown’s Next Step, a proposal to redesign downtown Main Avenue with walkability and pedestrian and cyclist safety in mind.
City Council paused research into construction funding options in September until designs for Main Avenue from Fifth Street to 14th Street reached 60% completion and until construction began on the proposed new city hall and police station.
At that time, it wasn’t clear whether Durango voters would approve a sales tax extension that would fund the new joint city hall and police station. Voters said “yes” to the ballot measure in April.
Designs are currently at 30% completion and are expected to be completed by the end of the year, according to the city.
Now, four meetings are scheduled throughout June to give residents and business owners opportunities to provide feedback about aspects of DNS.
The project has been a hotly contested topic, with some residents and business owners viewing proposed changes as welcome improvements to downtown Durango and others seeing it as a threat to downtown’s historic character, parking availability and business operations.
City staff and officials have said regardless of whether DNS’s plans are realized, key water and sewer main, gas and electricity infrastructure need improvements. If downtown Main Avenue needs to be opened up for maintenance, it makes sense to perform surface upgrades at the same time.
At an August 2024 meeting about DNS, Keith Dougherty, city engineer, said infrastructure and utility upgrades must be made sooner or later.
Durango Multimodal Manager Devin King previously told The Durango Herald that DNS was first budgeted as a pedestrian improvements project. Despite some residents indicating in surveys they’d like to see downtown Main Avenue converted into a pedestrian mall, that option isn’t on the table.
Instead, flexible blocks – which offer the ability to temporarily convert a street space into an event space and revert it back – could be possible.
He said the currently proposed features have been discussed since at least 2006.
At the upcoming meetings, the city is specifically seeking feedback about design elements such as sidewalk width, curb extensions, loading zones, street elements, amenities and flexible blocks for special events.
According to the city, each meeting will feature the same presentations from the city. Each meeting is intended for a different group of community stakeholders, as follows:
- Downtown business owners are asked to attend a meeting at the Fort Lewis College Center for Innovation from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
- Downtown business employees are invited to a meeting at 11th Street Station from 2 to 4 p.m. June 10.
- From 10 a.m. to noon on June 16, a meeting specifically for residents will be held at the Durango Public Library.
- An accessibility meeting is scheduled to be held at the library from 10 a.m. to noon on June 23.
King said the anyone is welcome at any of the meetings, which will start with a presentation, include a breakout session and a broader question-and-answer format to accommodate people who feel more comfortable speaking in one format versus the other (in front of a large audience or face-to-face in smaller groups).
DNS will also be the subject of the city’s next Engage Durango forum at 5 p.m. July 22 at the Durango Public Library.
cburney@durangoherald.com
