City wants input on plan to make Central more pedestrian-friendly
By: Erica Zucco, KOB Eyewitness News 4
Would you like to see Central Avenue be more pedestrian-friendly?
On Wednesday night, city officials will hold a meeting for public input on a "Complete Streets" plan for part of Central Avenue. The city hopes to make Central Avenue between First and Girard a more pedestrian-friendly, urban place for people to live, work and play.
This area includes the UNM campus, the East Downtown neighborhood, and a lot of both businesses and living spaces, so there's a lot of foot traffic in addition to vehicular traffic.
Ideas so far jump off of a 2004 East Downtown Master Plan but also include information from recent studies.
Some of the possibilities being discussed are buffers between sidewalks and the street, side lane bus stops instead of in-lane bus stops and more pedestrian walkways. No concrete plans for development have been made yet, but consultants have been brought in to assist.
Gateway Planning, a Texas-based firm that specializes in urban design and community facilitation and Nelson/Nygaard, a California transportation planning firm, will assist in the process.
The first meeting is Wednesday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Heights Community Center, 823 Buena Vista Dr SE.
All who live and work in the area are welcome and officials and city councilors hope they'll bring
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