Colfax reviews downtown connectivity, improvement plan

The Colfax City Council held a workshop for its Draft Downtown Connectivity/Main Street Improvement Plan during its Jan. 24 meeting. Interim City Manager Mike Luken shared the city obtained Caltrans Sustainable Communities Grant funding to take a look at Colfax's downtown area. The plan serves as a 50-year roadmap for the city to look into what improvements could be made for downtown Colfax. "The crux of the grant is to improve the downtown area," Luken said. "To really look at economic development for downtown Colfax and the way to do that is to provide better connections between the rest of the community and downtown Colfax." Josh Meyer, a project manager with CivicWell, said the plan identifies and develops concepts for a revitalized downtown, including improvements to visibility and wayfinding as well as using underutilized pavement space to improve cyclist and pedestrian facilities and beautifying the downtown area. "We did look at the wider area and think about connectivity in general, but the interior of the downtown is that you already have a high-functioning Main Street," Meyer said. "Keeping businesses here and all that has been a challenge and so we want to build on what's here. We're not trying to reinvent anything." Heather Anderson, a project engineer with GHD, Inc., explained the grant funding is meant for Colfax's downtown area but the draft also looks at the surrounding area to identify gaps and opportunities for improvements. Anderson noted many recommendations in the report were based on extensive feedback from the community. According to the draft report, recommendations include adding a pre-signing alert system for when a train is coming, potential road connections, intersection upgrades and the addition of a roundabout in the intersection of Depot and N. Main streets. Councilmember Trinity Burruss expressed concern for the roundabout recommendation due to semi trucks utilizing N. Main Street to deliver to the businesses and the conflict the infrastructure could create for traffic to bypass the truck trailers. Councilmember Larry Hillberg noted trucks sometimes park in the middle of streets while making deliveries. Meyer confirmed there are ways the city can think about curb-side management and finding a balance in the event it pursues the roundabout. The council received two comments that noted ensuring all community groups in Colfax are able to provide input for the plan and inquiring if the plan included developing things that would draw people downtown. The consultant team confirmed it could meet with missed groups, and the plan solely looks at the connectivity of downtown and development would fall within the city's general plan or other planning efforts. Luken confirmed the project only identifies problems and potential solutions which could assist the city if it later decided to pursue a deeper analysis of the recommendations when grant funding is available. No action was taken on the item due to it being a workshop. Luken confirmed the item would return to the council at a future meeting for adoption. More information about the plan and draft report are available at ghd.mysocialpinpoint.com/colfaxmainstreet.