City Moves to Next Phase of Downtown’s New Design

The City of Durango will start traffic studies and engineering on a proposed new design for Downtown Durango. Animas High School officials will offer tours of the new campus at Fort Lewis College and find out what a drone show looks like. You’re watching the Local News Roundup, brought to you by Pop’s Truck and RV Center in Aztec and Tafoya Barrett and Associates. I’m Wendy Graham Settle. A final conceptual drawing of a downtown business district makeover was presented to the Durango City Council in early June, and now, the city will launch into the traffic study and engineering design phase of the project. The final conceptual design keeps one northbound and one southbound lane with a middle turn lane on Main Avenue. Sidewalks are widened and bump outs offer areas for park benches. The downtown makeover emerged from the pandemic when restaurants were allowed to build dining areas that extended into the street to offer safe distancing for patrons, so they could remain open. The city supported the concept by reducing four lanes of traffic to three. The makeover, if approved, will modify and formalize the arrangement to allow restaurants and businesses to continue to offer sidewalk services. The city’s Multimodal Advisory Board designated the design phase as a priority in 2021. The city will fund the project with revenues from the 2015 half-cent sales and use tax increase. To see a drawing of the final conceptual design, visit durangogov.org. The City of Durango and its partners will offer a full weekend of activities to celebrate Independence Day. The weekend starts on Friday, July 1st, with music and movies at Buckley Park, music starts at 7:00 pm. On Saturday, July 2nd, a BBQ, Bulls & Beer competition will begin at noon at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, gates open at 10. Later on Saturday, a street dance featuring live music from The MC Curry Trio and Desert Child starts at 6:00 pm, followed by a Drone Light Show at dusk. The dance and drone show will be at the Durango Transit Center. The city has canceled the firework show, because of fire danger. On Sunday, July 3rd, the Powerhouse Science Center hosts Rockin’ on the River with Elder Grown, it starts at 4:00 pm. And on Monday, July 4th, the day begins with a Rotary Club breakfast from 7:30 am to 11:30 at Rotary Park. A 5K race takes off from Rotary Park at 9:00 am, and the Southwest Civic Winds and Durango Choral Society performs at 9:15 am. Celebrations continue with a barbecue and bands picnic from noon to 4:30 at Buckley Park to benefit Building Homes for Heroes. A Stars and Stripes parade will start at 5:00 pm on Main Avenue, and a Lyle Lovett concert wraps up the weekend celebrations starting at 7:30 pm at the La Plata County Fairgrounds. The concert is a fundraiser for KSUT Public Radio. For a schedule, visit durangogov.org. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has reopened its Durango Wildlife Museum. The museum has been close since the start of the pandemic two years ago. The museum is open from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm daily through September 11th. The museum is located at the CPW fish hatchery, the entrance is located just north of the 15th street bridge on the east side of Main Avenue. Curious about the new Animas High School building that’s under construction on the Fort Lewis College campus? High school officials will offer elevated nest tours at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, July 13th, and August 3rd at the construction site. The high school is located across from the Bader-Snyder residence halls on the Fort Lewis campus. Visitors are asked to wear close-toed shoes, hard hats will be provided. Construction is expected to be completed in late fall 2022. For more information, visit animashighschool.com. That’s it for this week’s edition of the Local News Roundup. Thanks for watching, I’m Wendy Graham Settle.

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