Agenda Date: 04/23/2024
Subject:
Title
Project Downtown Update
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From: |
James L. Becklenberg, City Manager |
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Prepared by: |
Adrienne Burton, Manager of Innovation and Performance Excellence |
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Presentations: |
Brent Soderlin, Interim Director of Public Works and Utilities |
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Adrienne Burton, Manager of Innovation and Performance Excellence |
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Josh Mehlem, Consor Engineers |
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Meredith Wenskoski, Livable Cities Studio |
PURPOSE:
The project team will provide an overview of three potential concepts that outline different long-term opportunities in Downtown Littleton as well as next steps for Project Downtown.
LONG-TERM OUTCOME(S) SERVED:
Vibrant Community with a Rich Culture; Sustainable Community with Natural Beauty; Robust and Resilient Economy; Safe Community
DISCUSSION:
The City of Littleton’s Project Downtown will guide strategic investment and prioritization of infrastructure improvements in Downtown. These investments will enhance mobility and streetscapes for a more vibrant, connected, comfortable, inclusive, resilient downtown to celebrate and enrich the historic character of this local and regional destination. The planning process for Project Downtown has been designed to be robust, transparent, and interactive. There have been multiple touchpoints (over 1000) with the community and intentional opportunities to provide feedback throughout this planning effort. Project Downtown will ultimately tell the story of a downtown that is well-connected, balances the needs of all modes of transportation, and identifies urban design and streetscape strategies to improve the experience for residents, businesses, and visitors alike. This planning effort is anticipated to be complete by Q3 2024, and this presentation reviews project status and next steps to establish a long-term vision for infrastructure investments in Downtown Littleton.
After the initial phases of public engagement, the project team spent several months developing and refining three concepts based on feedback received. Resounding community themes included reinforcing the downtown core, enhancing the connectivity of multimodal corridors, and creating iconic destinations and green streets. These themes were interpreted into the following three concept alternatives: Chicane on Main, Multimodal Network, and the Village.
Concept #1 - Chicane on Main
Big Moves
1. Chicane on Main Street creates dynamic social spaces activating the street.
This concept embodies leveraging Main Street as a vibrant social hub through the implementation of a chicane to facilitate traffic-calming, the addition of pedestrian zone enhancements, and the expansion of green spaces and sustainability measures. Further enhancements to Main Street entail the implementation of safer street crossings, specialized paving and furnishings, communal plazas for casual gathering and activation, enhanced overhead lighting as well as a gateway on the east end Main Street to signify the downtown core threshold.
2. Enhanced streetscape on Alamo Avenue creates inviting and comfortable pedestrian experiences.
Streetscape improvements along Alamo Avenue aim to cultivate an inviting and comfortable pedestrian experience. This includes safer street crossings, streetscape enhancements such as lighting, green infrastructure, special paving at intersections, and furnishings in addition to another downtown gateway at Alamo Avenue.
3. Prince Street mobility and traffic calming links core to north and south ends of downtown.
Prince Street features dedicated north and southbound protected bikeways, shortened safer crossings, and buffered, accessible sidewalks. Bikeways will connect with current and / or future bike improvements projects.
Concept #2 - Multimodal Network
Big Moves
1. Enhanced streetscape with protected bike lane on Main Street.
A westbound protected bike lane is introduced on the north side of Main Street, and parking is eliminated on the north side to allow for a wider amenity zone with enhanced pedestrian spaces and streetscapes. Intersections are improved with special pavement and lighting to create safer crossings and richer texture to complement the historic district character.
2. Improved pedestrian experience on Alamo Avenue with bike lane.
A dedicated eastbound bike lanes is introduced on Alamo Avenue, and parking is removed along the north side of the street and replaced with vegetated buffers and gathering opportunities. Green infrastructure improvements are proposed on the south side of the street.
3. East-West bikeway connections to existing network.
This concept proposes enhanced connectivity to Littleton’s Centennial Link Trail, Little’s Creek Trail, and the Mary Carter Greenway. The downtown gateway at Sante Fe and Bowles is the transition point from a two-way multi-use path to one-way protected bike lanes on Main Street (westbound) and Alamo Avenue (eastbound). On the eastern side of the downtown core, the westbound bike lane extends to Littleton Boulevard, and a raised multi-use path connects to crossing of Littleton Boulevard.
4. Prince Street mobility and traffic calming enhancements links downtown core to north and south ends of downtown.
Dedicated north and southbound protected bikeways are located on Prince Street in addition to protected intersections and widened sidewalks for enhanced comfort and connectivity. Placemaking gateways are proposed south of Alamo and north of Main Street to announce the arrival to the downtown core.
Concept #3 - The Village
Big Moves
1. Enhanced pedestrian-oriented Main Street with option for temporary closure.
Raised intersections at Curtice Street, Nevada Street, and Prince Street and enhanced paving along interior blocks creates traffic-calming and a pedestrian-focused atmosphere and potential for temporary closures for increased activation opportunities. Pedestrian spaces are framed by vegetation and planters to create comfortable seating space and gathering areas. Art elements and overhead lighting create iconic moments at intersections.
2. Nevada Street shared street connects to Little’s Creek with a focus on pedestrian experience.
This concept introduces a shared street at Nevada Street for an enhanced connection and overlook across Little’s Creek. Green infrastructure and pollinator plantings create a natural feel south of the more formal design at Main Street, and paving, plantings, and seating elements create a consistent design rhythm. The shared street provides a distinct connection from the
3. Enhanced Little's Creek creates new trail experience with naturalized drainageway and social spaces for people.
Trail at Little’s Creek becomes an elevated multi-purpose path with enhanced lighting, public art, gathering spaces along the path, and introduces opportunities for interaction with the creek. This becomes a heightened linkage from the Mary Carter Greenway to the downtown core and a major opportunity to better capitalize on an existing amenity.
The project team kicked off the current phase of public engagement by presenting these concepts to the LDDA (February 2024) and the Stakeholder Working Group (April 2024) in addition to a virtual community meeting and Open House in April 2024. The project StoryMap has been updated to provide a detailed overview of the opportunities each concept presents, and the second survey is open through mid-May. This feedback process and project goals will ultimately inform a final solution and implementation plan (or roadmap) for the long-term infrastructure investments that will bring Project Downtown to life. There is opportunity to combine elements with features from other concepts, and this approach will be central in the discussion with the community for developing the preferred alternative. Phasing considerations are also an important aspect for feedback as it’s crucial for the project team to understand the highest priority items desired for the phase I implementation and in development of the overall implementation plan and strategy.
BACKGROUND:
Envision Littleton encompassed the concurrent development of the City’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan as well as the city’s first-generation Transportation Master Plan in 2018 - 2019. These planning efforts coordinated joint community and leadership engagement processes with corresponding input and an integrated set of goals, policies, and actions. Downtown parking considerations, multi-modal connectivity, pedestrian-oriented safety improvements, clear wayfinding, and streetscape enhancements were identified as high community priorities.
With the formation of the Littleton Downtown Development Authority in 2022, the LDDA Plan of Development provided the vision for Downtown Littleton and identified Project Downtown as an action item to establish gateways and enhance gateway streets through streetscape and landscape improvements, more comfortable environments to encourage people to stay longer, enhanced connectivity with Little’s Creek, and focused improvements at Main Street and Alamo Avenue to create an iconic pedestrian-first environment. The newly formed LDDA is also a close working partner in this process, and the LDDA Plan of Development served as a critical reference in defining the project scope and goals. The project team is working closely with the LDDA at each milestone to ensure Project Downtown bolsters the priorities identified in the Plan of Development as well as identifies clear roles and responsibilities and a path for the shared implementation of recommendations.
The City of Littleton is developing the downtown mobility & streetscape improvements plan, or Project Downtown, to guide the City’s long-term investment decisions to improve mobility, connectivity, parking, pedestrian safety, wayfinding, and streetscape enhancements (i.e., lighting, trees, and wider sidewalks) in Downtown Littleton. This plan will result in a prioritized list of future improvements with recommendations for funding strategies and mechanisms. The project study area includes a larger area to wholistically consider gateways, wayfinding, access, circulation, and connectivity; however, the core project focus is defined as the area within the boundary of Santa Fe Boulevard, Rio Grande Street, Powers Avenue, and Little’s Creek approximately.
The City of Littleton issued a Request for Proposal on October 17, 2022 and received multiple proposals from highly-qualified teams. Consor was ultimately selected as the successful consultant team to lead this effort after a rigorous evaluation process. Consor is a transportation planning, engineering, and ITS consulting firm whose goal is to deliver sound solutions that improve the safety of transportation systems for users of all travel modes. They are partnered with multiple teams (Livable Cities Studio, Matrix Design Group, Currie Consulting Group, Pinyon Environmental, ArtHouse Design, and Triunity) that bring well-established relationships, deep technical expertise, comprehensive public engagement strategies as well as extensive multimodal and streetscape design experience.
The project team completed a detailed existing conditions analysis and evaluation of the Downtown Core to establish a benchmark for guiding discussions around key opportunities for future improvements. A summary of this quantitative analysis is featured in the project story map located on the project webpage (project downtown (arcgis.com) <https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/8eed16a0f1bd428a9aefb02b9b9e2d7a>, and information is grouped into six major categories including mobility and connectivity, parking, safety, environment, vibrant destinations, and historic character. Each category includes a summary of observations, opportunities, and a detailed map for context. In addition to this analysis, the project team performed a qualitative evaluation of the Downtown Core using the Twelve Quality Criteria, a tool developed by Gehl Architects for researching how public spaces are experienced by their users, looking at protection, comfort level, and experiential qualities. Each observation location was given an overall score for protection, comfort, and experience. The higher the score, the more comfortable the location is for pedestrians and cyclists.
In the initial phases of public engagement (July 2023 - November 2023), the team led approximately 150 1-on-1 interviews and discussions, two Stakeholder Working Group meetings, one virtual public meeting, two small group workshops focused on mobility and environment, and two presentations to the Littleton Downtown Development Authority (LDDA). The first project survey closed in early November, and the city received 675 responses. Major themes and takeaways obtained through these touchpoints provided the framework for the development of the following project goals which will be utilized to evaluate and measure success of concepts:
• Placemaking & Activation
• Mobility & Connectivity
• Safety & Accessibility
• Sustainability & Resiliency
Prior Actions or Discussions
The project team presented an overview of the community feedback captured during the initial phase of public engagement to council at a study session on November 28, 2023.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
There are no fiscal impacts currently, however, Project Downtown will ultimately provide an implementation plan with a detailed, phased approach to realize the long-term vision for mobility and streetscape improvements in Downtown Littleton. Additional discussion around the prioritization of funding for phased improvements will occur at future study session.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
This presentation is intended to serve as an update only. There are no staff recommendations currently.
ALTERNATIVES:
The project team is soliciting feedback on the overall preferred concept, preferred components of all concepts, potential opportunities to integrate solutions from multiple concepts, and highest priorities for implementation to inform the final preferred alternative which will be presented to council in mid-summer 2024.