Thank you to everyone who participated in the Community Interest + Concerns survey. We had approximately 200 survey responses and 80 people sign-up for future project updates. The Key Takeaways from this project are as follows. A full summary of the survey can be downloaded here.
Stakeholder desire to be involved
Survey-takers indicated a high level of support for working with the City on the design and development of Coffman Street. Specific comments referred to the importance of engaging neighborhoods and businesses, seniors and people with disabilities, and bicyclists. Additionally, the number of survey responses indicates a high level of interest in the project.
Safety
Overwhelmingly, survey-takers advocated for safe design. Safe facilities for cars, pedestrians, bikers, and bus-riders is reflected in the majority of comments, and the topic of safety rose to the top of the three questions. While safety meant different things to different respondents, dominant comments included safer bike lanes, safer pedestrian routes, and increasing safety for drivers.
People-first design
Many comments emphasized the importance of protected bike lanes, safe and accessible facilities for pedestrians, options for micro-mobility, and accessibility to the businesses and neighborhoods that Longmont’s residents frequent.
Car-first design
Many comments emphasized the importance of providing a design that meets the needs of Coffman Street’s current users. These comments included topics like sufficient parking, improving current traffic and travel-time, providing a safe driving environment, and creating a Coffman Street that has space for car traffic.
Less is more
For some survey-takers, Coffman Street could be improved but does not need to be revolutionized. These respondents advocated for a less-is-more approach to improvements, such as simpler upgrades for bikes or retiming of traffic lights to improve traffic flows.
Trees and Longmont’s character
The characteristics that survey-takers highlighted as important to Longmont include its historic buildings, old trees, and general aesthetic. Preserving and protecting the trees in particular were important to respondents because of their age, beauty, and climate-change benefit.
Impacts during construction
For many respondents, the primary concern about the project related to impacts during and caused by the construction process. These concerns included impacts like noise, dust, traffic delays, road closures, and business accessibility. Additionally, concerns were tied to the timeline for construction and, for a few respondents, whether construction would adversely impact peak business days.
Cost and funding
Survey-takers asked questions about the project cost, funding sources, and whether taxpayer dollars would be used to fund the project. On occasion, this topic was tied to project equity, ie. ensuring that other areas in Longmont would also benefit from planning projects.
Relationship to Main Street
Survey-takers asked many questions and provided a range of input relating to Coffman Street’s relationship to Main Street. Opinions ranged across a broad spectrum--from making Main Street a pedestrian-only route, to 2 moving all buses to Coffman, to reopening “covid-lanes” on Main for car use. However, the relationship between the two streets is an area of importance to many stakeholders.
