Grand Junction officials were given more clarity and inched closer to a decision on the future of two of downtown’s most traveled roads.
The City Council and Downtown Development Authority Board hosted a joint session Thursday for an update on the Fourth Street/Fifth Street feasibility study from engineering firm Bohannan Huston.
The feasibility study is exploring ways to improve walkability and safety along the Fourth and Fifth street corridors downtown — either by turning them into two way streets or retaining them as one ways, all while making improvements along the street.
The visions and goals for Bohannan Huston are: enhancing safety, improving walkability, activating economic development and optimizing traffic circulation.
“Those have been our guiding principles throughout all of this,” said Denise Aten, senior vice president of Bohannan Huston.
Currently, both corridors south of Grand Avenue are pretty simple. Both are about 80 feet wide, with a small fraction of that dedicated to pedestrians and no space for cyclists. The wide lanes presently seen on the roads, Bohannan Huston argues, allow for more speeding.
The area of Fourth and Fifth between Grand and Belford avenues has less space for pedestrians and the lanes remain about 16 feet wide, but trees line the sidewalks.
Conceptual drawings that could be the future of those streets downtown look to narrow driving lanes and create more space for trees and cyclists.
On Fourth, travel lanes would be reduced to a pair of 11-foot-wide lanes, and two eight-foot-wide parallel parking lanes. Engineers said parallel is preferred to angled because drivers won’t be backing out into traffic. There would also be two eight- foot-wide bike lanes, trees lining the sidewalks, and cafe/patio seating.
Then on Fifth, 39 feet would be dedicated to sidewalks and tree space, with a six foot-wide bike lane, one eight-foot parking area, and two 11-foot driving lanes.
“We’re showing this as a two way scenario but it’s also applicable for a one-way,” Aten said. “And if you choose a one-way, it can be readily converted into a two-way.”
The hope is that these initiatives — pretty amenities and narrower lanes to dissuade speeding — could make the area more appealing to folks. If that happens, the DDA believes, there will be more economic activity in all of downtown.
“We have a prime time view of when the highway turns into Fifth and I feel people come way too fast. It’s not a safe feeling at all as a pedestrian. And then on a weekly basis, we’ll see a car turn the wrong way and go towards the highway,” Eli Gerson, owner of Ramblebine Brewin The Daily Sentinel in April. “I think we need some kind of change. I don’t know if it’s the pedestrian lights they have on 12th Street or making it into a two-way street or what. But something needs to change.”
Of course, there is concern to any sort of change to the roadway.
There’s an interactive map of the corridors where the public can pin questions, comments and concerns about the change. Some of them appear to be in favor of a change, while others aren’t.
“Don’t fix something that’s not broken. 4th and 5th street work just fine as one way,” one comment reads. “Quit wasting tax money and spend it on what’s actually for maintaining the roads.”
Other public comments indicate to the engineers that no matter what option is chosen — one way with improvements or two way with improvements — it will be better than the current conditions.
City Council members acknowledged that any change will likely cause confusion for locals, but that they think a change is needed.
“I’m sensitive to those concerns, I hear them,” City Council Member Anna Stout said. “But I’m a proponent of the two-way right now. It may cause confusion now but it’s going to be best long-term.”
No decisions were made at the meeting, and Bohannan Huston plans on at least one more public input session for Fall 2021.
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Council, DDA talk changes to Fourth and Fifth Street traffic - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
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