Breckenridge is working toward finalizing a master plan centered around reimagining how the town interacts with and recreates near the Blue River while also placing more emphasis on celebrating it.
By creating The Blue River Pathways Project, the town is hoping to boost the recreational opportunities and aesthetics surrounding the river while also making environmental enhancements. Breckenridge Town Council received updates on The Blue River Pathways Project at its Feb. 13 meeting from Town Engineer Shannon Smith and Norris Design’s Elena Scott regarding the near-completed master plan.
Planning for The Blue Pathways Project began in March 2023 and is slated to wrap up in February. This project at-large involves multiple smaller projects aimed at improvements and has four segments.
One segment is from French Street to Watson Avenue. Another is from Watson Avenue to Ski Hill Road. The third is from Ski Hill Road to the Riverwalk Center. The last section is from Riverwalk Center to Park Avenue.
The town budget approximately $1.1 million in 2024 to use toward associated projects.
The master plan has five goals that include safety, connectivity, environment, placemaking, and community engagement. Through these goals, the town is aiming to reduce pedestrian, bike and vehicular conflicts; create a way for bikes to get all the way through town; improve river health and reduce pollution; enhance the pedestrian experience along the pathways near the river; and understand the needs of the surrounding community and stakeholders.
Connectivity is a pillar of the project since the town is aiming to relieve congestion from Main Street by providing an alternative route downtown along the River Walk that the town hopes people will want to use. Also detailed in the plan is the goal to improve delivery and material management operations for the town and for businesses downtown alongside adding more art along the river.
Council was asked at the Feb. 13 meeting if they would support the idea of the creation of an “Ullr Plaza,” which would be in Sawmill Parking area as a part of the project.
“Our idea is to enhance that east-west connection, as well as provide a permanent home to the bonfire,” Smith told council. “We’ve been doing the bonfire in a sort of temporary format in the parking lot the last couple of years.”
Staff clarified to council that this idea is not set in stone, yet they believe it is the best location in town for the plaza. They added it could result in the loss of parking spots depending on how design goes.
This concept split the council. Council members Todd Rankin and Dick Carleton favored the idea and said they believed that would be a prime location for the plaza. Council member Jay Beckerman was on the fence, noting he was “luke warm” on the idea, and Mayor pro tem Kelly Owens showed some opposition.
“I’m really not interested in losing parking in Sawmill at all,” Owens told staff.
She suggested the possibility of using the Schoonover lot instead noting “we sort of have a blank slate there.”
Staff responded they did not think the Schoonover Site was suitable to have a bonfire at, but said they were looking at both spaces.
“If it looks like we’re gonna lose some parking, we could possibly look at extending into the Schoonover lot to gain those spaces back and locate the plaza where it really wants to be,” Scott said.
Staff told the council they would take their feedback and look into ways in which the plaza can be built with minimal impacts to parking.
Staff also presented an idea to widen a path behind the Bly Building in Breckenridge, whose address is 123 S. Main St., that’s also alongside the Icehouse lot. The town would like to have this path be more accessible to bikes. The path is only around 6-8 feet wide currently, and the town said a bike path generally need to be around 14 feet wide.
Staff explained that there are constraints associated with changes in this area that make things difficult, such as having to reconfigure the Icehouse Lot.
“If we do look at reconfiguring this house, there will be a loss of parking,” Smith said. “I want to make sure we’re supportive of that before we dive into any further design on widening and that stretch.”
Council member Jeffrey Bergeron voiced his support noting that he frequents that path and its often dark, given the buildings that block sunlight, and difficult to navigate at night.
Carelton added that this area was the “most dangerous, and the least inviting” stretch involved in the whole The Blue Pathways Project.
Council showed support for this improvement and agreed that it was worth losing some parking over.
Council was also presented the project as it would be completed broken up into its four segments.
The stretch from French Street to Watson Avenue has proposed improvements that involve widening the recreation path, a proposed pedestrian bridge and a new bridge specifically for small delivery-type vehicles too.
The area from Watson Avenue to Ski Hill Road includes the “Living Lab,” which a staff memo described as “a way to test improvements with low-cost solutions.” A segment of the Living Lab was completed in 2022 to test bicycle, pedestrian and vehicular circulation. It created new connections such as a pedestrian lane in the Gold Pan Alley, a one-way lane for vehicular traffic from Ski Hill Road to the Wellington Lot and an asphalt shared use path along the east side of the river.
Smith pointed to the barricades placed along the Living Lab as another aspect of the project that impacted potential parking spaces during the discussion about the potential Ullr Plaza and related parking issues.
This year a second phase of the Living Lab will be implemented that entails a bicycle arrival plaza with bike racks, a water bottle filling stations and temporary restrooms.
Improvements proposed to this segment include developing a new underpass at Ski Hill Road, constructing a new bridge that would direct bikes to the recreation path on the east side of the river and creating additional linkages to Main Street businesses and parking lots.
The third stretch, from Ski Hill Road going to the Riverwalk Center, was presented to have improvements including designating a specific recpath and a bridge and bike route directing bicyclists to the west side of the river.
Owens expressed concern about the amount of bridges this project entails.
“That’s just a lot of infrastructure over the river which we’re trying to celebrate,” Owens said. “I’m concerned that with shadows and all of the different directions that we’re trying to direct people, I’m not sure that this is the most elegant way to solve our situation.”
Staff offered Owens an onsite meeting to see how these proposed bridges would look and function.
For the Riverwalk Center to Park Avenue segment in this project, the town would also like to designate a specific recpath in this area in addition to a cyclist route. There’s plans to study the feasibility of an underpass at Blue River underneath South Park Avenue.
