Central City, Colorado

Defined by a compact grid of narrow streets, Central City’s historic downtown is characteristic of development from the 1800’s. Designed for travel by foot and horse, Central City’s streets now accommodate significant volumes of traffic—both local and through traffic, which accesses heavily traveled Highway 119 and Central City Parkway.

The intersections and pedestrian facilities within the downtown provide critical links into the residential neighborhoods, commercial areas, and recreational amenities. Central City desired to enhance mobility within the downtown to improve safety, increase walking and bicycling, encourage redevelopment, and enhance the quality of life for both the residents and visitors of their historic community.

Community Builders facilitated a two-day site visit in partnership with Alta Planning & Design, which was followed by an intensive stakeholder design charrette process that identified priorities for a revitalized downtown that incorporated multimodal facilities and amenities. It focused on selecting the best downtown locations for physical multimodal improvements, then produced conceptual designs that present options for Main Street and surrounding roadway circulation.

City Council adopted the plan following completion and immediately implemented some of the improvements. In 2016, the city put just over $100,000 into sidewalk and roadway improvements within the downtown. They have also made improvements to crosswalks in town, including the addition of a new crosswalk between the Century Casino Parking Garage and Johnny Z’s Casino (the “problem” crosswalk identified in the report) with flashing/lighted signs. The City also eliminated some on-street parking spaces to improve delivery truck parking and loading/unloading.

The City stated that they will be spending an additional $200,000 on sidewalk and roadway repairs throughout the downtown.