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Survey finds broad support for Aspen Street car-free events; organizers, staff consider permanent closures
Summary
Committee members reported preliminary survey results from the First Friday downtown event: about 400 survey responses showed strong support for closing the Aspen Street block to cars for pedestrian and bike-only events; attendees raised concerns about insufficient bike parking and bus rack compatibility with some e-bikes.
Committee members and city staff reported preliminary findings from the First Friday downtown event that closed Aspen Street (the block in front of Heritage Square) to motor vehicles for the event. Staff and committee members said the event was heavily attended and a city survey of event attendees produced roughly 400 responses with “strong support” for permanent car-free events on that block.
"There's a lot of people asking the city to permanently close that stretch of Aspen to cars," a committee member reported while summarizing the survey data, noting that many written comments highlighted parents feeling safer taking children to the event without cars present. The committee noted multiple informal complaints that there was not enough bike parking during the event.
Members discussed possible data collection methods to supplement the survey, including bike‑rack occupancy counts or time‑stamped photos (drone or camera) to estimate attendance; staff said the survey was the primary dataset at present. Committee members also relayed a related operational issue described by Mountain Line staff: some newer e‑bike frames and fat tires do not fit the standard front-of-bus rack design, limiting bus–bike compatibility for some users.
Dre and staff planned to share summarized survey highlights with the Downtown Business Alliance and attendees. Committee members suggested the city consider permanent or recurring car-free street closures for special events and planned to monitor follow-up data and community feedback.
