Public Workshop for Downtown Glenwood Springs Projects

July 30, 2012 - Northwestern Colorado/CDOT Region 3 - GLENWOOD SPRINGS – A workshop to provide additional opportunity for the public to review new information and give input on three different downtown projects will be held tomorrow, July 31st from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Loft meeting room, 3rd floor of the Hotel Denver, 402 7th Street, Glenwood Springs.

This workshop is sponsored by the Glenwood Springs Downtown Development Authority and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).

The three separate but related projects include the SH82/Grand Avenue Bridge Environmental Assessment, the SH 82 Access Control Plan and the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Visioning Exercise.  Project team members from all three projects will be available to answer questions about the exhibits, which will include:

  • Grand Avenue Bridge Alternatives 1 and 3

The SH 82 Grand Avenue project team will have new visualizations of Alternatives 1 and 3 from different perspectives and some new traffic flow simulations of the various intersection options. Project representatives noted that this new information will also be presented at a public open house in late August.

  • Downtown Urban design and redevelopment opportunities

This workshop will present potential urban design and redevelopment opportunities in neighborhoods associated with Grand Avenue Bridge Alternatives 1 and 3 via sketches prepared for the DDA. These sketches have been prepared to help provide the public and the project team with a better understanding about what these areas might look like under each of the alternatives and the wider reaching possibilities for downtown and the community. Two areas are being looked at are; along 6th Street where the two bridge alternatives result in very different traffic conditions and along the 7th Street and Grand Avenue area where the SH 82 Access Control Plan and the Grand Avenue bridge alternatives present opportunities for urban design and pedestrian improvements.

  • SH 82 plans to control and manage access

The SH 82 Access Control Plan study team will be available to answer questions about the ongoing study and potential changes to access along SH 82, particularly in the downtown area.

“The downtown area is so important to the long-term vitality of Glenwood Springs that it’s important to understand the relationships the Grand Avenue Bridge project and the SH 82 Access Control plan have with downtown redevelopment opportunities,” said Leslie Bethel, executive director of DDA. “The visioning exercise conducted by the DDA provides a great visual tool for helping understand what can happen with these other projects.”

Joe Elsen, CDOT Program Engineer added, “We recognize that changes to SH 82 could both impact and have long-term benefits for downtown Glenwood Springs. Understanding what this looks like will allow better decisions to be made.”