It seemed like it was almost overnight that the streets of Carbondale were transformed with various temporary features installed throughout town. The designs align with Carbondale’s Mobility and Access Plan (MAP) and mimic some possible solutions to slow traffic and make Carbondale more friendly for all types of transportation — even if that’s your own two feet.
After a couple of years of public outreach, including two interactive maps where people could pin and make specific recommendations, MAP Carbondale was approved by the trustees in January. The document is a roadmap — pun intended — meant to track and respond to mobility needs into the future as the town transitions from car-centric to multimodal.
“When we’re looking at doing improvements or upgrades, it’s considering how bikes, pedestrians and cars will all use it,” Public Works Director Kevin Schorzman told The Sopris Sun.
The temporary features we’re seeing are part of what’s termed the “Tactical Urbanism Project” (TUP). Current TUP features include: bike lanes on West Main Street and Hendrick Drive; a mini traffic circle at Hendrick and Barber Drive; a median concept at Hendrick and Ivy Lane and Sopris Avenue and Highway 133; a “defining” of the double-yellow line at Weant Boulevard and 133; and curb-radius bulbouts at 8th and Euclid Avenue and 8th and Garfield Avenue. Sharrows, which indicate when a road is shared with cyclists, were painted on Main Street and will soon appear on 8th Street (from Village Road to Main Street). Most of the temporary features are marked by traffic tubes, with the exception of the bike lanes and sharrows.
The temporary features will be up until fall. “We want to get the flexible pavement markers out of there before the snow flies,” said Schorzman. The bike-lane paint will come up with the first or second plowing, he added, because of the type of paint that was used.
To accrue data, traffic counters were installed at various locations, which also collect speeds and vehicle types — like a dump truck compared to a passenger car. Some data was collected when school was still in session and will be collected again once school resumes to help determine the effectiveness of the TUP features.
The traffic circle at Hendrick and Barber caused some concern regarding emergency vehicles being able to maneuver around them. But, as Schorzman pointed out, the flexible tubes can easily be driven over by responders, and will just “pop back up.” He did, however, note the flowerpots, also within the make-shift circle, could be more difficult to run over if necessary. A permanent installation would be designed with emergency access in mind. As an example, Schorzman referred to traffic circles in Snowmass that don’t have anything in the middle so larger emergency vehicles can drive right over.
“What we did, intentionally, was make the road feel narrower,” he explained, “and that was all an attempt to see if we can get people to slow down.”
Most likely, not all of the features will become permanent, and certainly not all at once. Which ones do largely depends on public input. Each year, Public Works will prioritize select installations when it submits its annual budget. Schorzman added that it likely won’t be until at least 2027 when selected TUP sites are slated for permanent installations.
“What you’ll probably see next year is us trying other things in other places,” he stated. For instance, because of high speeds on Cowen Drive, the department is considering installing traffic chicanes that would narrow and curve the lanes to hopefully reduce speeds.
A couple of permanent mobility upgrades are on the docket, however. MAP Carbondale and Age-Friendly Carbondale’s “Highway 133 Dangerous as Designed” surveys identified the need for pedestrian crossings along Highway 133. Two permanent crosswalks will be installed across Highway 133, one at City Market and another at Ross Montessori this year and next, respectively. The City Market crosswalk is currently out to bid. Both will include median-refuge islands and raised curbs on both edges of the highway intended to reduce speeds.
The public is being asked, once again, to share their thoughts. A survey inviting feedback regarding the temporary TUP features is open through Oct. 1. Find the survey and make your case at www.carbondaleconnect.org/map-carbondale