4th and 5th Street Improvements Pilot Project
The City of Grand Junction and Downtown Grand Junction have launched a pilot project designed to reduce speeds on 4th and 5th Streets that will increase safety for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. Rendering examples of how each street will be reconfigured are provided and you can provide your input by responding to the short poll, leaving a question or comment. Before asking a question, please review the FAQs to see if information about that topic has already been provided.
What does each corridor look like in the pilot?
Planning done in the 1980s helped to lay the foundation for designs developed for 2024 that are currently being implemented. These were based on how the City has grown and how downtown has evolved for more pedestrians and use by cyclists in addition to motorists driving in for business, shopping, a cold beverage, or a meal.
Blocks between North Ave. and Ute Ave. on 4th and 5th Streets will undergo a transformation for the pilot phase of the project changing traffic flow from two lanes to one. 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 graphics below are examples of the pilot design for 4th and 5th streets, allowing adjustments to be made as plastic bollards and paint are currently used.
4th Street (Downtown example)
5th Street (Downtown example)
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 Project, the Living Streets subcommittee, Community Development, and Parks and Recreation Departments are looking for temporary street murals to be painted along these corridors. The Artist submission closed on Friday, August 23.
4th Street North of Main (space will be split into two)
5th Street South of Main
5th Street South of White
I work and use daycare downtown and so far traffic has been awful. I usually take 5th from OM to the daycare on 7th then 4th back to my job off of 4th and Colorado. Since the new additions have me made folks don't seem to know where they are going. I've seen people come to a complete stop in the middle of traffic unsure if they can navigate the tight lanes including a city bus! I have also taken to using 3rd and 8th as alternative routes. Seems everyone has the same idea as the roads are busier than normal. I have also had more than several near misses at intersections as not everyone knows what a stop sign is. It's especially dangerous trying to cross grand ave. Cannot cross 7th by enstroms either traffic is so insanely backed up. It's slowing traffic to almost a stand still and rerouting daily commuters from OM and delta/ Montrose area.
Along with all the issues raised to date, and having gone through this in Denver Metro in the past, I believe you will see more accidents, More congestion and increased pollution. Wouldn’t it make more sense to post a couple policemen on those routes who could control traffic?
I mean this with all due disrespect...one of the worst ideas the city has had in quite some time...up there with the back in parking. Who had the brilliant idea to break something that is not broken? There are better ways to slow traffic besides creating traffic jams and utter chaos. This will send us back 20 years and wipe away all the progress the Riverside Parkway brought to everyone who commutes from South of the Colorado. As Orchard Mesa, Whitewater, Delta, and the rest of Western Colorado grows this will just compound and get worse. If someone were to have thought of a solution/alternate route before this monstrosity, it would be somewhat defensible. But now there will not be a single 2 lane entrance from South GJ to downtown/CMU/GJHS. A complete lack of foresight, thought, and common sense. Whoever thought of this and approved it should be required to live and commute from Orchard Mesa during peak traffic times so that they can understand the absurdity of this. A colossal waster of tax payer money. Please find common sense and find another solution.
I have worked in our beautiful downtown for over 20 years, and it’s abundantly clear the DDA and the city of GJ do not have the downtown business and customers in mind when they went forward with this absolute nightmare on 4th st. I’m all for slowing traffic, but now traffic is at a screeching halt! The buses, UPS, FedEx and the delivery trucks for all the restaurants are having a very difficult time just getting down 4th let alone making the ridiculous sharp turns that are now in place. But most importantly customers are already furious that they have to navigate the “s*** show” to get downtown, but have to pay a higher price at the meters. We have had so many complaints and comments that they will never come downtown again. That is heartbreaking to hear. Our downtown is absolutely beautiful, but people are quickly turning away.
Thank you for your time.
I am extremely unhappy with the changes you have made. GJ is only growing with more traffic and I do not think you should take a two lane road and condense it down to one. This will only cause more traffic congestion. It seems that now there’s a lot of unused space particularly in front of the post office. It also seems as though there is less parking now. GJ is so spread out that I think more people drive than bike. We have a very accessible downtown with pretty ample parking. Please don’t turn it into a metropolitan downtown with congested traffic and hard to find parking.
Traveling from OM for the majority of my life, this project seems terrible. The riverside parkway and 29 road bridge have somewhat relieved traffic. But this project appears to send us back to the days of backed up traffic, longer drive times, increased accidents, and frustrated commuters. OM is already a lesser acknowledged area of the city and continues to be alienated by projects that do not consider the needs of residents in this area. Downtown is not the entire city. Please take into consideration the entire population when making this decision.
As a resident of Orchard Mesa, this project sounds like a disaster. I feel terrible for anyone who has to commute from OM to downtown or North Ave. This will cause traffic to back up North of the bridge (with potential rear-end collisions as people coming over the bridge won't be able to see the backup), plus much more congestion at best. I know I will be avoiding the area if this goes through, and am fairly certain I am not the only one.
As a resident of the 400 block downtown, I am so happy to see this project finally take place. Speeds on 4th and 5th are reckless and there are no crosswalks to access the historic Hawthorne Park. Thank you GJ for being forward thinking and recognizing that the city design should be welcoming space for people to exist, move and live and not just be a space for cars. Thank you again.
I travel this way everyday to work and drop kids off at GJ High school. Narrowing this to one lane is going to cause a bottle neck and delays. It is challenging now with 2 lanes!!!