Fassbinder Park in Durango is a grassy, shaded area with a jungle gym for children to play on, seven or so park benches for people to picnic at and a tree canopy that blocks the brunt of summer afternoon rays.
It’s a great place for neighborhood children to play in their free time and a popular spot for summer children's programs. But West Park Avenue, a short street stretching from Roosa Avenue past the park to north Main Avenue, is in serious need of pedestrian safety improvements, according to residents living in the area.
Drivers frequently speed down West Park Avenue, which lacks crosswalks at most intersections and is pocked by potholes. West Park Avenue is also a primary response route for Durango Fire Protection District, said Devin King, multimodal manager for the city of Durango.
The city hosted an open house at Fassbinder Park on Tuesday where about 25 residents gathered to point out all the factors that make West Park Avenue a dangerous place for pedestrians and a less than ideal drive for motorists.
King, other city officials and representatives of engineering firm SEH held the neighborhood meeting to hear directly from residents about what improvements are needed most and fit their neighborhood best.
The city propped up cut-out maps of West Park Avenue highlighting sites where crosswalks, medians, lighted traffic signs and other traffic-calming features could be installed.
But those were simply examples of what can be done, King said. He emphasized that residents’ feedback will guide the city’s approach to solutions.
“We've gotten a lot of neighborhood complaints over the years about speeding,” King said as a group of residents circled him to hear better. “You know, we've also gotten complaints about road rage. And then we do know that there's no pedestrian connectivity for Fassbinder Park.”
He said the open house was held at Fassbinder Park because the improvements project is so neighborhood-driven.
Reconstruction of West Park Avenue, given potholes and the need for resurfacing, will be a key part of the project, he said. And that construction will present an opportunity for the city to install sidewalks in places they are missing and to add other features such as crosswalks.
One caveat is the city won’t consider speed humps or speed bumps. King said the city is no longer installing speed humps anywhere in town (not considering whatever private properties or other governments do on their properties, such as the raised speed humps at Durango High School).
Resident Theresa Lashley said she has lived in the neighborhood since 1989 and residents have been asking for speed humps or something to slow down traffic since at least then.
Her husband Doug Lashley said neighborhood residents all signed a petition to have speed humps installed on West Park Avenue about 10 years ago and the city appeared ready to make it happen.
“And then management changed,” and movement stopped, he said.
She said a boy was struck by a speeding vehicle on West Park Avenue 1½ to two years ago. He was rushed to the hospital with a fractured pelvis. The boy’s father reinvigorated residents’ cries for action.
He wasn’t at the meeting on Tuesday because he’s out of town, Lashley said.
Theresa Lashley said it is common for people to speed down West Park Avenue at 50 mph or faster. People often speed up to make it past the green light at North Main Avenue.
Doug Lashley said Roosa Avenue and West Park Avenue became a favored route for many drivers hoping to bypass Camino del Rio when it had congested traffic as a result of median construction.
Resident Warren Starrett said he lost a dog to a speeder outside his home in the 300 block of West Park Avenue. He isn’t sure how his dog escaped his fenced yard, but it did, and it ran into the street to greet a neighbor’s dog.
He said the city should put up speed cameras and ticket speeders because fining speeders is the only way to make them slow down.
Meredith Maple, another resident on West Park Avenue, said her biggest concern is speeders. She is concerned making the street more narrow in an effort to slow down traffic would place cyclists into closer proximity to vehicles.
“I don't know that the pinch points are necessarily the right solution,” she said. “I guess as long as they address the northbound traffic, that would probably be something I would contemplate.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
