PLANNING - By Greg Madeen Architect/Planner 8/3/06

Durango City Plan: Re-thinking Camino Del Rio with the Greg Madeen Initiative
Primary Proposal: Lower Highway 550 from the Double Tree Motel for 6 blocks north

Current Status:

- Hwy 550 dominates and divides Durango, both physically and psychologically, denying an easily obtainable access from the city's historic center to the beautiful east side of the Animas River.

Proposal:

- Drop Highway 550 for 6 blocks from the Double Tree Motel northerly.
- Creating Underground Parking in order to comply with the growth of Durango's population.

Potential Results:

- The Camino Del Rio (HWY 550) becomes secondary to the pedestrian.
- The pedestrian's transition from Durango's city center to the Animas River is now safe, easy-going, and catered to the pedestrians/bikers with a maximum allowable speed set at 20 mph.
- This pedestrian oriented realm of the city works interdependently with main avenue and the rest of the historic city center. A top priorty is increasing revenues for established busimesss while encouraging growth of public, mixed-use commercial, and residential spaces.
- Green space can now become more heavily incorporated into the existing conditions.
- A balance and fluidity can now run throughout Durango rather than having competing forces between the city's largest assets.
- Those traveling through downtown Durango can now transition through this section of the city unhampered rather than competing with stop-lights and pedestrian traffic.

Durango is quickly advancing on both an economic and urbanistic level, and the future growth of the city is inevitable. Therefore, conscious and careful planning for such change is essential for the success of the city as one of the country's most desirable locations/destinations. Currently, one of the largest issues that exist within the urban fabric of Durango is the divide, both physical and psychological, between the historic city core and the Animas River. Preventing a casual or undisturbed transition from the city center to the Animas River, Camino Del Rio/Highway 550 acts as a physical divide between these two areas due to the four lanes of traffic traveling at speeds of 45-55 mph.

The Animas River and Durango's historic city center are the two primary elements that provide the city with its rich substance. Yet accessing the river from the historic Main Avenue area is anything but easy, as one must compete with crossing a winding high speed highway. With all of the activities that the Animas River generates, along with the beautiful green space and vegetation that accompanies it, this river should gently bleed into the city allowing the transition from the river to the city center, or vise versa, to become relaxed and enjoyable. Two themes that Durango certainly strives to embrace and articulate, especially being driven by tourism, are relaxed and enjoyable.

The proposal for this urban dilemma consists of re-thinking the way in which Highway 550 is oriented by keeping it low from the Double Tree Motel northerly for 6 blocks to then pop up to again join grade level Camino Del Rio at about 12th Street. This narrow proposal generates a win-win situation for the pedestrians of Durango and those traveling on Highway 550. The pedestrians are now provided with an easy and comfortable transition from the city center to the Animas River while the Durango "thru traffic" can now travel through the area unhampered by stop lights and other frequent obstacles. The City of Durango desires to have slow safe vehicular traffic. In contrast CDOT wants to have traffic move very fast. The basic concept presented here solves these opposing issues at the same time.

Current existing commercial buildings along this section of Highway 550 are generally not very appealing. Before new constructs hamper long term solutions a Camino Del Rio master plan should be developed. With this master plan approved, properties adjacent to Camino Del Rio would almost certainly have increased property values.

A significant amount of underground parking could be created, which also allows the pedestrian to again take the foreground while insisting that vehicles and vehicular dilemmas become secondary to a pedestrian-oriented area. Parking is a key component, and an inevitable condition, that needs to be dealt with in planning for the growth of Durango. Yet by creating underground parking, safe, comfortable and enjoyable conditions can still exist rather than becoming overly saturated by vehicles.

Durango thrives off of the transition of people: the ability for people to walk, bike, carry their raft or take their dogs wherever they please. The future growth and success of this city is therefore dependent on not only embracing this reality, but also enhancing it. This is why 45 mph traffic can no longer divide the city from its greatest asset, the Animas River. This is why parking and vehicles, although necessary components, need to exist yet not dominate By "hiding' such components underground, the true essence of the city (a healthy, active, alive city based on the great outdoors) can continue to prevail.

Creating a language between downtown Durango and the Animas River through proper planning and a mixed-use corridor is vital for the city's future growth. This language will only magnify all of the existing assets of Durango, allowing desirable conditions to be thread throughout the city while limiting sprawl and grid lock. It is important for us to develop a strategy for the future of Durango's urban fabric without delay. This strategy will in turn only help to strengthen our daily lives and the lives of those who join us.

Any well intended suggestions for a pedestrian and bicycle tunnel perpendicular and under the existing Camino Del Rio are short sighted that will be expensive, only beneficial to a fraction of the people trying to cross the highway, and probably destructive to any long range solutions. An easily removable and reusable overhead perpendicular pedestrian bridge would be less expensive and not so detrimental to long term improvements as a perpendicular pedestrian tunnel. The long term planning should happen before either of these ideas is implemented.

Madeen Architecture and Construction is a licensed architectural firm located in Durango, Colorado. This firm prides itself on alternative, natural, environmental architecture that aims at reestablishing a connection between humans and their natural surroundings. The Greg Madeen Architectural approach is based on sustainable architecture that is instinctive, hand-crafted and ecological. Style and material solutions are of the site, based on local/regional sources while landscape, climate, and function generate the primary design.