Consultants present 7th Street Corridor Study, urge phased safety and streetscape work eligible for SS4A demonstration funds

Consultants presented findings and a design concept for the 7th Street Corridor Study, a roughly 0.9‑mile corridor envisioned to improve connections between downtown and the fort while improving safety and multimodal access.

Eileen Shew Shular, a landscape architect with GBA, described the project vision and three primary goals: increase connectivity between neighborhoods and downtown, improve infrastructure and aesthetics, and optimize land use and stormwater management. "We are really about that connectivity...how we make connection and relate how we can imagine how we can draw people from outside the community into downtown for the economics and improve that connectivity within the neighborhoods of the 7th Street," the consultant said.

Public engagement included steering committee meetings, open houses, a farmers market pop‑up and online interactive maps. Consultants highlighted several design concepts: a 10‑foot multi‑use path in select segments, widened pedestrian zones near commercial sections, protected bulb‑outs and shortened crossing distances at high‑conflict intersections (consultants flagged the Kiowa intersection as particularly hazardous), and block‑by‑block tradeoffs between parking and pedestrian/landscape space.

The team also reported limited existing stormwater infrastructure along the corridor with ponding in places; consultants recommended integrating stormwater controls into streetscape work. The study proposes three phasing sections (south, mid, north) with demonstration safety improvements as near‑term work. Cara Goldberg, who led public engagement, noted the city’s SS4A transportation safety plan makes the city eligible for demonstration funding and suggested the city pursue those lower‑cost, high‑visibility safety projects first to build momentum.

Commissioners asked about tree selection and root management; consultants discussed design details (pervious sub‑bases, tree species selection and long‑term maintenance with the parks department). The planning team said the formal plan will return for city commission approval at a regular meeting within several weeks.

Next steps: consultant team will present the final plan for formal approval and provide notices about potential grant opportunities for demonstration projects.