The Cone Zone Care Committee, an extension of the Main Street Advisory Board, hosted an informational public meeting about Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT’s) upcoming main street reconstruction project on June 18.
It was part of a series of informational meetings about CDOT’s project. The meeting was attended by downtown business owners and residents; however, no CDOT representatives were present.
Main Street Program Director Kathleen McFadden said, “Tonight is really representative” of the Main Street Program’s “primary mission ... to support the businesses in our downtown district and to ensure the economic vitality, as well as to preserve the heritage and history of our downtown district.”
She added, “Although the project was postponed until [next] spring, it’s really important that we continue the momentum, because things continue to happen with CDOT.”
The next meeting between CDOT and local stakeholders is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. on June 27 at the Ross Aragon Community Center, she explained.
“Staying involved and staying aware and preparing” for the upcoming project is very important, because “it’s just gonna be here before we know it,” McFadden said.
The second speaker at the event was Main Street Advisory Board member Rick Holter, who explained there are a lot of things “still moving in the background” as CDOT plans its project.
He added the June 27 meeting with CDOT will include the ideas of a group of three business owners in town who were chosen to represent the voices of the downtown businesses.
The group includes Evelyn Tennyson, owner of Two Old Crows Gallery and the Liberty Theatre; Jeremy Buckingham, owner of Goodman’s Department Store; and J.R Ford, owner of Pagosa Land Company.
Holter explained this group has “boiled” down ideas and suggestions from the business community in town into three main areas of concern, and these concerns will be expressed to CDOT at the upcoming meeting.
He added that one big area of concern is “staging,” explaining that business owners want CDOT to consider “doing that project in sections, as opposed to doing it the full eight blocks” all at once.
Another concern is the loss of downtown parking during the construction, as CDOT has indicated the possibility of losing 288 parking spaces downtown during the construction phases of the project, Holter stated.
He added that a parking task force, led by Rosanna Dufour, was created between multiple groups that include the county and the town “to try to surface some additional parking spaces.”
Later in the meeting, Dufour updated the audience on some of the parking spaces and lots being considered by the task force, the town and the county.
Town Community Development Director James Dickhoff chimed in to say that “communication” is also a major concern that will be discussed and relayed to CDOT at the June 27 meeting.
“We are hoping to get a better sense, after that meeting, about the timing of the bids, because the idea is that CDOT will put it out to bid this fall, then select a contractor who will be ready to rock and roll as soon as the snow stops flying,” Holter said.
Holter asked Buckingham if he’d like to update the audience on what he planned to relay to CDOT at the upcoming meeting, with Buckingham saying, “I’m just excited about the fact that” CDOT representatives “are willing to listen to us.”
He added that he appreciates that Julie Constan, CDOT’s regional transportation director for Region 5, volunteered to “bring all the engineers” to the meeting and “to come to Pagosa to meet with us on our timetable,” which “just shows that she is willing to work with us.”
Holter then updated the audience on the potential to utilize the alley between Lewis Street and Main Street for business access during the CDOT construction.
He added that the statewide Main Street Program coordinator, Gayle Langley, visited with an architect and that Holter led them on a tour “from one end to the other” of downtown.
He explained that they “hopscotched” along the downtown business district to talk to business owners about the possibility of “activating that back alley, particularly behind the 400 block.”
He noted that the architect “had some good ideas” after visiting several businesses in the area, but that there are “some challenges with that alley idea. I was not aware of so many drainage problems, which is a big deal back there.”
He touted the renovations to the backside of Pagosa Bar as a potential model for other businesses in the area to utilize the back alley as potential entrance points.
“With the sculpture garden opening right across the alley, there’s a real opportunity back there ... to get more action back there in the alley, even without the construction project,” he said, adding that there’s a potential for grant funding and tax incentives for those who wanted to add ADA parking and access in the back alley.
Jason Cox asked about the potential to pave the alley in the 200 block.
He said it is a “really busy thoroughfare in the alley, and I’m thinking of secondary arteries whenever you’ve got your primary transportation corridor interrupted.
“We’ve talked about a one-way there as well as paving it, are there any ... ideas on that and what the town council and staff willingness on that is?”
Cox directed his question to Dickhoff.
“Paving is a pretty big investment ... but there’s so many utility issues under that [alley], so, I think what we’d probably do is look at mag chloride as a temporary solution for the project, so it’s a more firm base and less dust for that cross traffic where people are walking back there and they’re not dragging dust into your businesses as much,” Dickhoff replied.
Cox then asked about making the alley a one-way traffic zone, or possibly making it a pedestrian-only zone, “Pearl Street mall mini, Pagosa-style, walkable, lots of light lighting and things like that. It doesn’t help the traffic situation with vehicles, but just some thoughts to throw in that maybe gets relayed to” the business group going to talk to CDOT.
Dickhoff responded, “That’s a great idea,” but that there are also issues with deliveries back there and property owners who “park off of the alley.”
He added that the town is “open to having that discussion” to find out “what works for everybody, but at the very least we want to take care of the dust.”
McFadden suggested that the ideas that Cox expressed were “perfect examples of why we encourage businesses and residents who are down in our district to continue to … show up at these meetings, because together we can come up with creative solutions to make Pagosa a better place in the long run as well as supporting businesses during the construction.”
It was clarified at the meeting that CDOT’s construction plans for the main street reconstruction project will last two construction seasons, with the project beginning in the spring of 2025 and continuing through the summer and early fall of 2025, with the same construction schedule slated for the year 2026.
“I think one of the hopes for bidding it in the fall is that they’ll be able to start as early as possible in the spring, even if it’s prep work … They’ll want to be ready to start because that two-year time frame starts ticking at that point,” Holter said.
He added, “One of the problems of this year was they got started so late in the bidding process that, even if they would’ve started, they barely would have been starting by now.”
McFadden encouraged the audience to keep up the “momentum.”
The Cone Zone Care Committee has not set a date for the next information session.
derek@pagosasun.com
