Alamosa creates Downtown Pedestrian Safety Zone

ALAMOSA established a Downtown Pedestrian Safety Zone on Wednesday that doubles the fine for speeding on Main Street through Richardson Avenue.

Following a public hearing, the city council adopted the measure 4-2 as part of Alamosa’s efforts to establish Main Street and the neighboring avenues as a focal point for downtown community activities, including festivals, and a draw for visitors to the restaurants, breweries, and retail shopping downtown.

Within the Downtown Pedestrian Safety Zone, which covers the hub of Alamosa’s Main Street, there will be flashing pedestrian signs at crosswalks and better striping on the road to keep cars at safe distance from the sidewalks and parallel parking spots.

Other agenda items:

City Council extended the moratorium for accepting short-term rental businesses through June 30. 

In an update on State Avenue construction, Public Works Director Harry Reynolds said the project will be slowed after the city discovered a riveted storage tank along State and Seventh Street that needs further inspection.

The state will test for contaminants from the buried tank, with results expected by May 13. Reynolds says that it’s “gonna put us back a few months, at least in that area.” Otherwise the State Avenue project is proceeding fine, he said.

Main Street Improvements

On Main Street, Reynolds said that within two weeks new paint will be applied and that he’s confident the chip sealing will cover up the old reflective stripes that have proven to be difficult adversaries. 

The chip sealing is slated for late May or early June, depending on weather.

The Downtown Pedestrian Safety Zone ordinance, enforced through stepped-up police patrols, will double fines for speeding on U.S. 160 between Denver and Richardson Avenues. 

Councilor Michael Carson called it “backwards” and “ill-timed.” He suggested that the city finish the current speed-deterring projects before it moves to enforcing new fines.

Councilor Kyle Woodward said he was worried about turning Main Street into a “speed trap.” City Manager Heather Brooks said cracking down on speeders is the point and what the city’s Main Street Advisory Committee recommended to address the problem of speeding on Main Street.

Public awareness around the speeding fines as well as signage placed at the city’s east edge on Highway 160 around Richardson Avenue will be completed before enforcement can begin. “It’s not going to happen overnight,” Brooks said.