Should vehicle traffic be allowed back on Seventh Street?<\/p>\n
That’s what the Glenwood Springs City Council will vote on at their regular meeting Thursday.<\/p>\n
Currently, orange and white barricades between Colorado and Cooper avenues prohibit vehicles from accessing the \u201cfestival street,\u201d which cost over $2 million to build.<\/p>\n
If council agrees to city staff\u2019s recommendation, the stretch of street will remain closed to motorized traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recommend that [Seventh] Street remain closed,\u201d stated a recent city staff report.<\/p>\n
According to the same correspondence, approximately 9,000 vehicles utilized Seventh Street daily prior to the Eighth Street connection across the Roaring Fork River to Midland Avenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn viewing how it\u2019s operating today, I feel, and I believe the police department also feels that, it really reads like a pedestrian plaza,\u201d said City Engineer, Terri Partch. \u201cIt\u2019s a potential safety issue with having people that are unfamiliar with it use it like a pedestrian plaza and also having vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Glenwood Springs Police Department, in an Aug. 26 letter to Partch, threw its support behind keeping Seventh Street closed with a few exceptions for emergency use, and possible time-limited access for deliveries.<\/p>\n
In the letter signed off by former Chief of Police Terry Wilson and Acting Chief Bill Kimminau, the department believed Seventh Street\u2019s current configuration would need \u201csubstantial change\u201d to provide safe passage for pedestrians if opened to vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have gotten so used to just being able to walk through there whenever they want,\u201d said Kimminau in an interview Tuesday. \u201cAll of the traffic coming across the [pedestrian] bridge walking through there\u2026somebody is going to get hit by a car.\u201d<\/p>\n
While city staff support keeping Seventh Street free of vehicles, public opinion remains \u201csplit\u201d according to the same city staff report.<\/p>\n
According to stakeholder feedback submitted to the city, 22 respondents were against allowing vehicular traffic on Seventh Street, whereas 11 favored it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like [Seventh] Street open to vehicular traffic,\u201d stated Cece and David Zumwinkle, owners of Juicy Lucy\u2019s Steakhouse at 308 Seventh St. \u201cOccasionally closing for an event but not seasonally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, the city\u2019s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) in a 6-1 vote, favored opening Seventh Street to vehicles with periodic closures for events.<\/p>\n
However, in a city of over 10,000, council hopes to hear from more residents at or before its meeting at 6:15 p.m. Thursday in city hall, located at 101 Eighth St.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do we think as a town as a whole, open it up or should we keep it closed? That\u2019s the input I am looking for,\u201d said Councilor Charlie Willman who remains undecided. \u201cIt is a big decision. \u2026Hopefully we\u2019ll make the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if keeping Seventh Street closed to vehicles was planned all along, Willman replied no.<\/p>\n
Partch also said that it was always envisioned that Seventh Street would reopen to vehicles, until it was closed to traffic during and after this summer\u2019s construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a victim of our own success,\u201d said Partch. \u201cIt really looks very nice. It looks like a pedestrian plaza and adding vehicles to it will, I think, take away from that use.\u201d<\/p>\n
mabennett@postindependent.com<\/p>\n