VENTURING 4TH

By DALE SHRULL

Dale.Shrull@gjsentinel.com

Gary Crist stood next to the new bicycle lane in front of downtown post office and filmed the scene with his cell phone.

With a smile and a shake of his head he trudged back to his vehicle.

The scene was congested with 4th Street traffic backed up through the White Avenue intersection as a car was attempting to pull into one of the new parking spaces on Thursday.

“Today, we came down to this parking lot, it’s actually suppose to be a street but it looks like a parking lot,” Crist said smiling. “They want people to come downtown. but now this is going to make it tough.”

Rhonda Powers had the same dismayed look on her face.

“It’s an accident waiting to happen,” she said.

The project on 4th and 5th streets is still a few weeks away from the finish line, but residents are getting their first look at the 4th Street section that is mostly striped with new parking spaces, a narrow one lane, bike lanes and bus stops from North Avenue all the way to Colorado Avenue.

The project, designed to slow traffic and increase bike and pedestrian safety is nearing the halfway point for installation, according to the City of Grand Junction, with construction expected to finish up next week.

For motorists who have driven down 4th Street, the new look is a stark contrast to what it was before.

The project is narrowing the existing lanes on each street and making each roadway one lane instead of two, Grand Junction Transportation and Engineering Director Trent Prall explained.

To do this, the diagonal parking along the streets will switch to parallel parking and a protected bike lane between the parallel parking and the sidewalk is completed on 4th Street and will be done on 5th Street as well.

“We’re trying to engineer a solution that encourages slower speeds,” Prall said.

Prall added he understands that this will be a

See VENTURE, page 8A ➤

A car, white center, squeezes through parked cars and traffic poles designed to slow traffic next the post office on 4th Street between White Avenue on the north and Rood Avenue to the south on Friday. The new configuration is part of a project to redesign 4th and 5th streets to slow traffic and increase safety of pedestrians and cyclists.

Photos by LARRY ROBINSON/ The Daily Sentinel

Crews worked to stripe lanes and parking spots with white paint after new pavement was laid on 4th Street near Main Street in downtown Grand Junction on Thursday. The project removes the diagonal parking spaces and replaces them with parallel parking spaces, adds a protected bike lane and narrows the current two-lance road to one lane. The project also includes the same configuration for 5th Street.

Cars, center, squeeze through parked cars and traffic poles designed to slow traffic next the post office on 4th Street on Friday. On both 4th and 5th streets, the two-lane roads are being narrowed to one-lane roads between North Avenue and Colorado Avenue. The project is expected to be finished next week.

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big change for people.

“We are reminding people that this is a pilot project … and how (the project) will accomplish the goals that we set, which was one, to help slow traffic in the downtown core, and get people moving around safely in all modes,” he said on Thursday.

FIXING PROBLEMS

Another aspect of the project includes the other form of transportation — buses.

An incident occurred Thursday that Prall said they have worked to make sure doesn’t happen again. A Grand Valley Transit bus was unable to navigate a section of 4th Street in the downtown area because the lane was too narrow.

Prall explained it was a problem with a combination of diagonal and parallel parking in that area.

“We have adjusted that with signage saying ‘compact (vehicle) only’ in those diagonal spots, and we’ll be re-striping that on Monday. It will create a slightly wider lane in that area,” Prall explained.

Prall said they worked with GVT on Thursday to find a solution in that area.

He also said this is how a pilot project works, and when problems arise, they will work quickly to fix them.

GVT has been at the planning table throughout the process for the project.

“We’ve been in the room from the beginning,” said Andy Gingerich, GVT transit planner. “This is something new but we’ve definitely been involved.

“We’re anticipating some adjustments to be made but the city has been a great partner and responsive.”

Being patient, understanding the goals and seeing what the benefits are to the project is what Prall hopes residents will do. He added that from a transit perspective, the project’s goal is to benefit bicycles, pedestrians, buses and freight.

“We encourage people to really give this a try and try it with all different modes,” Prall said.

Because of the oneway configuration, there are shorter pedestrian crossings on the streets and cyclists will have “facilities that they’ve never had before,” with buffers and basically having a less stressful way of navigating in the area on two wheels, he explained.

“Ultimately this is about safety through our downtown core,” Prall said.

With it being pilot project, there’s room for change and if the new elements of the project aren’t working like they hope, they can be quickly removed or changed.

”We’re excited to hear back on where everybody’s thoughts are on that,” Prall said. “Ultimately this is about safety through our downtown core.”

WORKING WITH PARTNERS

Another partner in the planning process was downtown merchants, who offered suggestions in what they’d like to see, Prall said.

The one-lane configuration was actually an idea that was proposed by the downtown merchants who were concerned about losing parking, Prall said.

Those same merchants also wanted to see more diagonal instead of parallel parking spaces in some areas, he added.

Another aspect that will benefit GVT, can be seen with a new large “Bus Only” pullout section at 4th Street and White Avenue.

Gingerich said they will be moving some of the current bus stops, including the one with that new pullout section, in what he said will improve the “boarding experience” for riders.

“We have two routes that run 4th and 5th, and we will be moving (bus) stops as a result of this,” he said.

BELFORD WORK

One block off North Avenue, the project also involved changing Belford Avenue from one-way to a two-way street between 4th Street and 5th Street in an effort to slow traffic on that street.

Previously, the configuration had a right turn onto one-way Belford off 5th Street, then a left turn onto one-way 4th Street along with straightthrough and right turn options.

A stop sign now will halt traffic before going onto 4th Street.

Access to and from North Avenue is not being impacted by the project on both streets.

Crews still have striping remaining to do on 4th Street from Colorado Avenue to Ute Avenue, then will begin striping on 5th Street. Work also continues on 5th Street at North Avenue, which has that part of the street currently closed.

Prall said a number of factors are being considered as far as success of the project, including congestion and safety. The city is monitoring traffic flows with devices that can count vehicles, the type of vehicles and how fast people are driving. Of course, the city is also monitoring safety issues such as the number of crashes.

Prall also said that the new parking spaces downtown will not remain free. Those new spaces that don’t have parking meters currently will eventually be paid parking like the other spaces that have meters now.

As for the large open area in front of the post office by the sidewalk, Prall said there’s a plan for that as well.

First there will be a mural project, then eventually, it could include bike racks, pedestrian space with benches and landscaping and other features once the pilot project is over.

With the 4th Street phase nearing completion, many can be seen observing the additions with a state of bewilderment and wonder. Prall is expecting and encouraging residents to offer feedback on the project, and they can do that by going to engagegj.org.

The city has budgeted $1.2 million in 2024 for the project.

Sam Klomhaus contributed to this article.