Mesa officials back design work for Center Street makeover to improve sidewalks, bike lanes and downtown access

Mesa City Council members on Sept. 4 directed staff to move forward into detailed design and public outreach for a Center Street improvement project focused on the block between Main Street and University.

Eric (transportation staff) told the council the draft concept narrows travel lanes to prioritize pedestrians and bicyclists, adds wider sidewalks and shade, and would install curbside, separated bike lanes with buffer zones. "We want to provide a gateway into downtown," he said, describing the project’s goal to connect the convention center and downtown commercial areas.

The presentation outlined why staff favors the segment from Main to University: prior studies (the MESA Moves bond program, a downtown micromobility/parking study and the convention center master plan) indicate the corridor could be reconfigured without crippling traffic operations. Eric said the segment has a wide right-of-way — approximately 77 feet of pavement — and that staff found volumes "just under 10,000 vehicles a day" on the busiest sections, which two lanes can handle.

The recommended design elements include widening sidewalks between Second Street and Main Street, adding curbside, separated bike lanes roughly 6.5 feet wide with a four-foot buffer to parked cars and a four-foot buffer to travel lanes, retaining left-turn lanes at key intersections, and reducing the posted speed limit to 25 mph. Eric said a roundabout at Second Street is a possible gateway feature but would require more engineering to ensure it accommodates convention-center vehicles and parade logistics.

Council members asked for specifics and raised concerns about parade routing, event-day traffic and bus stop accommodations. Mayor and council pressed staff to study whether a roundabout would interfere with Mesa’s long-standing parade logistics; Eric said the roundabout design would be verified in later engineering work and that the concept is largely striping and delineators rather than tall obstructions.

On connectivity, staff said existing bike lanes north of Main Street would be linked to the new improvements and that transit stops along Center Street would be accommodated during design. Councilmember Spilsbury and others urged a phased approach to ensure the new facilities connect to the broader bike and pedestrian network. Councilmember Duff cited a precedent in Lancaster, Calif., where a multi-lane road converted to a pedestrian-first corridor produced private investment and fewer crashes, noting "Traffic collisions and injury related crashes decreased significantly."

Eric asked for council direction to enter the detailed design phase using a portion of the $7 million allocated for streets in the 2024 bond package; council agreed to continue public outreach and return to the Sustainability and Transportation Committee and council with design details, utility coordination and analysis of event-day operations.

The next steps are staff-led design selection, public outreach, utility conflict identification and a follow-up report with options on how much of the corridor to construct given available funding. Council did not take a formal vote on construction funding at the study session.