The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Heated sidewalks? Wider, flatter streetscape?
[ By Mark Reaman ]Crested Butte long-range planner Mel Yemma said staff was suggesting the town begin planning a full Elk Avenue streetscape renovation starting in 2025. The town is anticipating major utility work on Elk Avenue could take place as early as 2027 (see story on page 1) so the idea is if a major interruption to Elk is going to happen, the town might as well do as much as possible at once and renovate the streetscape.
During a town council work session on September 13, Yemma said the questions around such a renovation included whether the town should widen the sidewalks and flatten out the street with the sidewalks. Another question is whether town should encourage or prohibit the heating of sidewalks for snow melt purposes.
“If utilities have to be dug up, it is better to get ahead of things and plan for what Elk could look like,” said councilmember Beth Goldstone.
Crested Butte community development director Troy Russ said staff was asking for general guidance on things like heating the sidewalks.
“Being ADA accessible is an important value for me,” said councilmember Mallika Magner.
“I like the idea of wider sidewalks and the summer parklets,” said councilmember Chris Haver. “We need more discussion on the heat/no heat of sidewalks. As for the idea of eliminating head-in parking on Third Street by Elk Avenue, that is a big part of our downtown parking. I am not in favor of getting rid of that for parallel parking.”
“For me the toughest part of a new streetscape plan is that it gets rid of our rough edges,” said Goldstone. “I see other places that made streetscape improvements the last 10 years and it’s nice as a visitor. But wider sidewalks and a flatter streetscape is not necessarily Crested Butte. I lean toward not heating the sidewalks to melt snow. It snows here and that’s a rough edge.”
“I too am in favor of not heating the sidewalks,” said councilmember Anna Fenerty. “From a climate perspective it is expensive in terms of energy use. I support ADA improvements. A lot of people don’t like the summer parklets. If we do have them, I’m in favor of allowing them for retail as well as restaurants.”
“I also worry that we could make it too polished,” said councilmember Jason MacMillan. “We need to be super careful to do it in a Crested Butte way. As for heated snowmelt, would town install it for the entire sidewalk?”
Russ said the heating of sidewalks would probably be focused on the entirety of the Elk Avenue.
“Unfortunately, the street crossings would not be heated. Best practices say the town should either heat everything, or nothing” Russ explained. “The current condition of intermittent heating is the least safe. Staff is suggesting 100% non-heated to eliminate all transitions since heated sidewalks will still transition to snow/ice at the street.”
MacMillan again expressed his concern about allowing retail parklets that would begin to resemble the haphazard scene outside Gene Taylors in Gunnison with racks of clothes.
“What will benefit retailers in the long run is a beautiful Elk Avenue,” said mayor Ian Billick. “My goal is to create a great Elk Avenue we all love. I don’t want to see a bazaar out there. I am sympathetic to the concern of being too polished, but we can bring character through design. I like the flat areas with the street and creating more dynamic pedestrian areas. I like the parklets. Being able to sit outside and have a beer in July is fantastic. If we can heat the sidewalks efficiently, I think that is good, especially for older people.”
Magner said she too appreciated the idea of melting the snow on sidewalks but she was “interested in what the climate impact would be.”
Russ also said that some studies show impacts on greenhouse gas emissions are 100 times more impactful from heated systems than the diesel clearing of the sidewalk.
Billick summarized that there was no council consensus on the idea of heating the sidewalks as of yet, and more information on climate impact, feasibility and cost were needed.
As for a complete overhaul on how the Elk Avenue landscape evolved, the council is interested in continuing the discussion and looking at alternatives.
