The question facing the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners, and their staff, during their February 20 joint meeting with the Town Council:
Can the County-run Mountain Express Transit system help our downtown businesses save themselves during the two (or three) years of Highway 160 reconstruction by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT)?
The reconstruction will involve replacement of the highway surface; underground pipes and utilities; sidewalks; crosswalks; and the streetscape… between S. 8th Street and N. 1st Street — basically, through most of Pagosa’s downtown commercial district. The project will reportedly limit or eliminate on-street parking along the highway during much of the construction process.
To say nothing of making vehicle and pedestrian movement more challenging.
Work could begin as soon as late April. The project would be discontinued during the winter months, half completed.
County Commissioner Ronnie Maez:
“This downtown thing that’s going to happen over the next couple of years — this discussion was started when I first got into office…” That was seven years ago. Now, it appears to be on the verge of happening.
Did we prepare sufficiently, over those seven years?
A Town-sponsored committee, the Main Street Advisory Board, was been discussing ideas to help mitigate the worst effects of the reconstruction project. They were not in the room that evening, but Mountain Express Transit (MET) director Kevin Bruce was present… and sitting in the ‘hot seat’.
The discussion about MET and its possible role during the reconstruction was introduced this way, by Mr. Bruce:
“So I don’t have any type of presentation. I’ve just been invited here, and maybe I can help answer questions. And come up with solutions.”
County Commissioner Warren Brown:
“I asked that this be added to the [joint meeting] agenda, because last week I attended the Main Street program — the meeting with CDOT. It was well attended.
“But what I kept hearing, repeated, was ‘Maybe the MET can do this… maybe Met can do that… maybe MET can put in a new bus stop’… And I think all the suggestions need to be considered, because we’re going to have some business people here, who are going to struggle to stay in business. We need to be very thoughtful, and bring ideas to the table, that are not traditional ideas, to help them make it through this period of time…
“What occurs to me is, the MET is being thrown out as if they are a separate and stand-alone entity. But they are a County department. And I think we’re going to have to seriously work together to make sure our downtown survives…”
A noble goal. But easier said than done, apparently.
“This is not about the Town or the County; it’s about us collectively as a community. And I think we need to keep that in mind, as we approach this and ask things of the County… and I guess, break the barrier of being so guarded… If the Town fails, the County fails. We all fail…
“I don’t know what the solutions are. But the thing we cannot afford is for us to disagree. And do whatever it takes on everybody’s part, because we can’t afford to do otherwise.”
Much of what Commissioner Brown says here makes sense. This is about us collectively as a community.
But I hope Commissioner Brown understands that we need, desperately, to disagree, when we are talking about the whole community. Some of the worst government decisions occur when no one is willing to step up and question the proposed path forward. Respect for alternate viewpoints is essential, if we want to make the best possible decisions.
None of us has all the facts. But collectively. we might have most of the facts.
And thankfully, MET director Kevin Bruce was willing to share his alternate viewpoint, during this discussion. And some important facts.
Commissioner Maez:
“You know, if the MET is going to do this and the MET is going to do that, there’s going to be an increase in the cost and usage. And that cost needs to be shared. Because it’s going to be outside the norm, of what [the BOCC] normally put into the transportation budget.”
Commissioner Brown:
“And arguably, they’re going to have to hire more personnel to make these things happen.”
Commissioner Veronica Medina:
“So, what are we talking about,? I mean, in terms of scheduling. And what’s the difference in the routes?”
MET director Bruce:
“These are a lot of questions. What are we asking for? Are you asking for seven days a week? Or you asking for, say…
Commissioner Medina:
“And who is asking?”
Mr. Bruce:
“Exactly.”
Commissioner Brown:
“There’s not been an ‘ask’. We need to discuss this and put a plan in place, before there’s an ‘ask’. Because by then, it will be too late.”
Commissioner Maez:
“So what were the suggestions regarding the MET? That it can do this and can do that?”
Commissioner Brown:
“Oh… putting in additional bus routes, bus pick-ups. Maybe from, let’s say. a temporary parking area…”
As I transcribe this conversation from my audio recording of the February 20 meeting, I find myself wondering if our elected leaders understand what kind of a downtown we have, in Pagosa Springs.
Perhaps our downtown is not the kind of downtown we imagine? Perhaps added bus routes during a massive highway reconstruction project are a futile proposition?
Those of us who may have grown up in cities and towns can remember when a downtown was the community’s commercial hub, offering a wide range of necessary and unnecessary goods and services.
Then in 1956, the nation’s first fully enclosed indoor mall — Southdale Center — opened its doors in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It contained shops, fountains, art installations, a courtyard, and a bird sanctuary.
By 1960, there were 4,500 large shopping complexes in the US, meaning an average of at least three new shopping centers had opened every day since 1956. The 1970s brought yet another development: the Food Court. A shopper could now spend all day indoors, shopping, and enjoy lunch or dinner without leaving the mall.
Pagosa Springs never got a shopping mall. But we did finally get a ‘shopping center.’ And then, eight years ago, a Walmart.
And then… what happened to downtown?