The design of the future Coffman Community Streetway is based on a Side-Running Hybrid (Mixed Traffic) Transit concept, which describes a design where buses travel in dedicated lanes along the outside of the street on some blocks and with regular vehicle traffic on other blocks. This concept was selected because it best met the established selection criteria: Safety, Community Character, Cost & Maintenance, and Modal Considerations. This “mixed traffic” approach allows left turns to and from all driveways and intersections, maximizes green space (and reduces removal of trees), preserves as much on-street parking as possible, and has the least impact on existing corridor features.

Two other design concepts were evaluated but not chosen. The Center-Running Transit concept would have kept buses running along dedicated transit lanes in the center of the street, which would have had a greater impact on existing corridor features and would have prohibited left turns to and from all driveways. The Side-Running Transit concept would have kept buses in dedicated transit lanes along the sides of the street, which would have made left turns possible but would still have had a greater impact on existing features along Coffman Street.

You can see more details about the design online through the Coffman Community Streetway StoryMap when it is released in summer 2023.

Dozens of community members came to the Coffman Community Streetway Project open house event hosted at The St. Vrain on September 27, 2021. Attendees had the opportunity to learn more about the community vision for Coffman Street—including important components such as transit and bike lanes—and to submit feedback on corridor characteristics such as trees/landscape, parking, and bus stops. The project team evaluated this feedback for consideration in the early stages of design. For those who could not attend the open house or who had additional feedback to provide, a virtual engagement opportunity was made available via Engage Longmont, allowing visitors to view the boards that were presented at the in-person open house, provide feedback on corridor characters, and submit questions to the project team.

Throughout the life of the project, information about the Coffman Community Streetway has been available on the City of Longmont’s website and on Engage Longmont. Engage Longmont has also been used to collect input virtually from members of the Longmont community about what important aspects of Coffman Street the community would like to see preserved. A question and answer (Q&A) feature available on the website, allowing community members to ask questions about the project.

A StoryMap will be released summer 2023 to showcase images and features of the new design and to highlight the project’s importance within Longmont’s broader transportation network.