The city of Durango appears to be slowing its roll on the Downtown’s Next Step project to redesign downtown Main Avenue between Fifth Street and 14th Street.
At the tail end of Wednesday’s Durango City Council meeting, Mayor Jessika Buell proposed holding off on pursuing the construction phase and funding plan of the project until construction on the new city hall and police station at 201 E. 12th St. begins.
City Council also finalized its decision to hold a 2005 sales tax extension ballot question until the city’s April 2025 regular election. The 2005 sales tax sunsets in 2026, but the city plans to ask voters to extend it 30 years and use its revenues to fund construction of the new city hall and police station.
Buell said residents have questions about Next Step, and she does, too.
“As one councilor, in order to make an informed decision, I do think I need costs,” she said. “I need costs of the utilities. I need costs of the curb and gutter.”
She also wants cost estimates for sidewalks and even for a potential parking garage.
At an Aug. 27 Next Step public forum with city leaders and Main Avenue business and property owners, Durango Transportation Director Sarah Hill said the city is not completely ruling out a parking garage. But as things stand, during the city’s busiest months of the year, average parking occupancy downtown is 75% full, not considering available parking at the Durango Transit Center.
“We are not saying ‘never’ to a parking garage. We are saying that we aren't there yet, and we’re not discrediting people,” Buell said. “The reality is there is enough parking available for different departments from two blocks of their destination.”
City Council will discuss Buell’s proposal to hold off on construction funding plans for Next Step at its Sept. 17 meeting.
Buell said misconceptions around the cost of Next Step’s design, which totals $1.3 million but is utilizing grant funding, should be made clear to residents.
Many residents and business owners have vocally opposed the Next Step proposal. Their concerns range from the project upending the historic nature of downtown to hurting access to businesses during and after construction. And some residents don’t want tax dollars funding the project.
At a City Council study session Wednesday, Devin King, Durango multimodal manager, said grant funding received from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs accounts for $640,000 out of $800,000 requested to fund Next Step’s second and third design phases. The city is on the hook for just $160,000 for those phases, he said.
“That’s a huge difference, and I think the public needs to be very well aware of that. Because that is substantial for this,” Councilor Melissa Youssef said.
Buell also noted the Next Step plan no longer reduces the size of traffic lanes on Main Avenue, and that’s another item residents should know about.
cburney@durangoherald.com
