4th and 5th Street Improvements Pilot Project
The City of Grand Junction and Downtown Grand Junction launched a pilot project in Aug. 2024 designed to reduce speeds on 4th and 5th Streets to increase safety for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. Throughout the early stages of the pilot, challenges became apparent from a layout perspective, and community feedback provided areas of improvement for modifications to the pilot.
2025 Modifications to the Pilot Project
City staff recommended and received direction from City Council to modify based on challenges with the current layout, feedback from the community, and data collected since the project’s implementation. The pilot will maintain the one-way, one-lane configuration with minor alterations, while several modifications are planned to improve the functionality and address concerns. Review the pilot project modifications in the presentation.
Timeline for modifications:
In the first quarter of 2025, modifications will include minimizing the number of vertical delineators and replacing them with more subtle, lower vertical, elements such as curb stops and rollover humps, to define bulb-outs. Parking spaces near intersections will also be adjusted to increase visibility and sight distances.
In the second quarter of 2025, alterations including restriping both corridors to adjust the bike lane adjacent to the travel lane which accommodates an increase in lane width for vehicular users, and pre-pilot parking configurations will be restored. These recommendations cannot occur until consistent warmer temperatures return.
After the second round of modifications is made, city staff will continue to monitor the pilot project for three to six months collecting data, receiving community feedback, and assessing the pilot’s progress to determine the next steps.
Planning of 4th and 5th Street Pilot Project
Planning done in the 1980s helped lay the foundation for designs developed for 2024 that were implemented. These were based on how the City grew and how downtown evolved for more pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists driving in for business, shopping, a cold beverage, or a meal.
The original study completed in 2022 had contemplated two lanes instead of one. In 2023, at the request of downtown merchants, the City's consultant evaluated a single-lane configuration which confirmed from a traffic volume standpoint, that a single lane on 4th Street and 5th Street would work in the context of the entire downtown street network. This single-lane design accommodated diagonal parking to remain.
The first iteration of the pilot project from Aug. 2024 to early 2025 proved layout challenges with increased community feedback. Early pilot modifications were completed to adjust the configurations.
Notable Changes Include (updated Sept.9):
City Leadership reviewing project plans for 5th Street
- The turning radius at various corners has been modified based on feedback from the original 4th Street design
- Additional diagonal parking will be provided along the west side of 5th Street south of Grand Ave.
- Bike lanes will be added and buffered by parallel parking on both 4th St. and 5th St.
- Angled parking will remain on the left side of both 4th St. and 5th St. in the downtown area
- Reduction to a one-lane, one-way configuration on both 4th St. and 5th St. between North Ave. and Ute Ave
- Belford Ave. is converted to a two-way street between 4th St. and 5th St.
- A westbound bike lane is added to the north side of Belford Ave. and parking is restricted to only the south side between 4th St. and 5th St.
- Travel lanes were adjusted from the original 11 ft. width to 18 ft. creating more room for car doors on either side and providing more room for drivers to navigate around parallel parking vehicles. The Fire Department initially reviewed the designs and since operating emergency vehicles has recommended the increase in travel lane
- Select parking spaces will be restriped to "no parking zone" to increase pedestrian ability to view oncoming traffic, two specifically in concern are along Colorado Ave.
- Three parking spaces near St. Regis will be restored in order to maintain self-waiting areas for riders
Living Streets Mural Project
As a part of the 4th and 5th Street Pilot Project, the Living Streets subcommittee, Community Development, and Parks and Recreation Departments created several Living Streets Mural along these corridors. The artist's work can be seen along the road sections in the downtown area.
This project sounds great if you live anywhere other than Orchard Mesa and only visit downtown occasionally. When 5th and 4th are our only ways in and out of town from the west side of OM, this is going to cause a lot of congestion. Unless the city plans to make a 7th street bridge or a 9th street bridge you're severely limiting OM neighbors routes in and out of the city. OM is growing fast, so to say this is I'll conceived is an understatement. These two streets along with 7th and 12th are essentially the only way into or out of the city from west OM. I only see more congestion and road rage. Think about your neighbors who don't live in the city but use these roads daily.
This project sounds great if you live anywhere other than Orchard Mesa and only visit downtown occasionally. When 5th and 4th are our only ways in and out of town from the west side of OM, this is going to cause a lot of congestion. Unless the city plans to make a 7th street bridge or a 9th street bridge you're severely limiting OM neighbors routes in and out of the city. OM is growing fast, so to say this is I'll conceived is an understatement. These two streets along with 7th and 12th are essentially the only way into or out of the city from west OM. I only see more congestion and road rage. Think about your neighbors who don't live in the city but use these roads daily.
Terrible idea. Séniors and disabled people will stop going downtown. Parking for disabled was few and far between. Can you imagine the bottle neck at special events? Closing the main parking lot is not acceptable. Most of us on Orchard Mesa don’t bike or skateboard into town. I bet the ones that decided this have never been to OM. You are hurting Main Street businesses.
we used 4th street today. it was way to tight for parallel parking and for the truck we were trying to drive through the very narrow. how can you parallel park on a busy one way street?? have traffic back up behind you??? it was ridiculous. now the web site won't let me submit the comment.
With traffic already backing up so much, why would anyone think this is a good idea? Does anyone on the planning committee have common sense 🤔
we used 4th street today. it was way to tight for parallel parking and for the truck we were trying to drive through the very narrow. how can you parallel park on a busy one way street?? have traffic back up behind you??? it was ridiculous.
I appreciate moving traffic to higher-priority streets and making 4th and 5th local roads. The complaints I'm reading are that people don't think 4th and 5th will be able to handle the capacity without realizing that this is exactly the point. Move the through-traffic out of the neighborhoods to make the neighborhood safer for those of us who use it on foot. If you're not going to somewhere on 5th or 4th, you don't need to be using them anymore than you should be using Hill or White if you're not going to something on Hill or White.
This resident approves the move.
The parking, however, looks like someone designed it with a crayon. I know there was more effort than that but that threshold got crossed from engineered to absurd and it doesn't feel safe or useful.
Please put it back the way it was. It was safer, more efficient and more visually appealing. I live in Orchard Mesa and work on Grand. So far trying to get home using 4th Street in the evening is a nightmare. There is simply not enough room for this design to be feasible, especially around the Post Office. I also spend a lot of my free time on Main Street and where I used to park on 4th to go to Kiln no longer feels safe, especially having to get a toddler out of a car seat and into a stroller. Not to mention having to back into what is now a one lane bottleneck to leave my parking spot. I thought we were supposed to be encouraging downtown shopping, not making it more difficult.
I recently used 4th street in a car. It’s awful. I’m typically very pro changes and updates but city of GJ completely missed the mark here.
First of all the middle driving lane is too narrow. Second of all the parking at the post office is ridiculous. Third of all, a large Sysco food truck was stuck in the too narrow car lane (when cars are parked in the parking spots the lane narrows even more). The delivery truck had to back up - causing everyone around him to need to back up. This “upgrade” is a complete miss.
One lane is a good idea, the way it’s set up is not at all a good idea.
I dislike the change! Backing out of parking spots is much more difficult and dangerous. Please change it back
Drove through this today, a Sunday so little traffic in comparison to weekdays. This whole thing is contrived at best. Gonna pop some popcorn and sit on the corner and watch the carnage. Not a prognosticator, but I foresee many accidents those to include motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians.
Furthermore, Murals? Seriously? Another thing that will require maintenance. For what?
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Personally, I don’t think this is a great idea for the downtown project. The traffic congestion is terrible as it is and will increase traffic to other streets along 5th - 12th. Those are residential areas that have the potential for increased accidents from vehicles and pedestrians. 5th street is a main corridor for people coming from south of GJ such as Orchard Mesa, Delta, etc. I think the city should focus on other problems that plague the GJ area.
4th and 5th street are the main corridors that connect Orchard Mesa to the rest of Grand Junction. Cutting them down to one lane each will clmake it much harder to get back and fourth. Especially for people going to GJHS. With the new school accommodating more students there is going to be an influx of cars on roads that are already struggling with the extra traffic. I genuinely don't see how this will benefit the community, in fact it looks like it will instead be a detriment twice. Because at some point it will likely have to be reversed or corrected for in some way. Much like reverse angle parking was only it will be much more work to correct.
This is an awful plan. I was downtown on Friday, going to the post office. I was concerned for my safety getting in and out of my vehicle. It's so tight that there's no room to open your doors and cars are driving by, it's terrible. Should have just left it the way it was it was. It was much better that way. Ridiculous.
This is an awful idea. I was down on 4th on Friday, going to the post office. It is so tight getting in and out of your vehicle. I was concerned about being hit. It is not a good plan at all. It was better the way it was. Ridiculous.
This is horrible. Living in orchard Mesa and trying to get my child to GJHS is a complete nightmare. Who planned this?? Why wasn’t there a vote?? One lane to and from OM on the two already busiest streets? Come on City! You can do better than this.
This is horrible. Living in orchard Mesa and trying to get my child to GJHS is a complete nightmare. Who planned this?? Why wasn’t there a vote?? One lane to and from OM on the two already busiest streets? Come on City! You can do better than this.
I have travel on 4th Street it seems very congested and almost had a vehicle hit me when it was coming out of a new parking on the side. It is little confusing when driving because of all the parking and bike paths now on it. Will avoid this area now.
As both a motorist and pedestrian, this conversion actively worsened my experience on 4th street. The single narrow lane of traffic seems to give pedestrians the impression that they need not wait at the crosswalk, and in addition, it is nearly impossible to see any oncoming traffic as a pedestrian due to the wall of parked cars. As a motorist, it reduces visibility, limiting my ability to see potential hazards. In short, this “improvement” has done nothing to improve the safety of the street for anyone other than cyclists (who I have rarely seen traveling this corridor in the first place), but has certainly made me less inclined to go downtown at all.