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| 2/24/2010 6:45:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Town staffers meet with Hwy. 24 business owners
Kathy Davis
Times Reporter
The Town of Buena Vista engineer and planner are hosting meetings to see what changes people would like to see for the U.S. Hwy. 24 corridor in Buena Vista. Public input will help develop a plan for U.S. Hwy. 24 improvements to present to the Colorado Department of Transportation as early as June.
"It has been our experience that our visions and CDOT's are not the same. We would like to say to them this is what we want to see," town planner Shannon Haydin said.
At a meeting for business owners Feb. 19 at the community center, Haydin gave an overview of access issues and safety concerns on the highway. Some of the potential improvements for U.S. Hwy. 24 mentioned by Haydin and business owners included continuous or periodic medians, narrower traffic lanes, public art, sidewalks and bike paths and good access entrances. Opportunities for more parking could be added by having store frontages closer to the road, Haydin said. That would leave space for parking at the back of the businesses, she said. Medians could be used to control turns and to make the highway safer for pedestrians.
Town engineer Rachel Friedman showed sketches of the highway with narrower traffic lanes, which would leave room to add sidewalks and bike trails to make the highway safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Ideas from business owners included a roundabout at the south end of Buena Vista at the junction of Gregg Drive and U.S. Hwy. 24 S. and a roundabout at the north end of town. The roundabouts would slow traffic coming into town. Roundabouts also would help traffic entering the highway, Friedman said. Another idea was on-street parking.
Friedman showed an example of a concrete island shaped like a pork chop, which would provide safety for turning traffic. Flashing lights at crosswalks already have been applied for, she said. Friedman said the application was for a Safe Routes to School grant. Since the highway improvements meeting, the town was notified that the town did not get the grant. Town staff members will reapply for the grant for the flashing lights at crosswalks.
Jo Reese, owner of Eagles Roost Trading Post, said she liked the idea of roundabouts and also saw a need for a place for vehicles to turn around. She said that parking lots for recreational vehicles would be helpful. Jeanie Siebel, owner of Pancho's, said she did not like medians, as they would affect businesses. She said she would like to see short plants in landscaping if there are medians. Making a request to CDOT for a lower speed limit was discussed.
The town plans to hold small public meetings starting in March. A larger public meeting is planned for a later date. Nothing has been decided, Haydin said. People can vote on what they envision for U.S. Hwy. 24 improvements, Haydin said. The town should adopt the improvements plan by the end of summer.
Making U.S. Highway 24 safer has been a top priority on the list of goals of the board of trustees for several years.
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