Durango, Colorado is moving to make one of its busier streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, hiring contractors to carry out improvements on Roosa Avenue as the city confronts the same traffic safety pressures reshaping urban corridors across the country.

The project comes as pedestrian deaths nationally have risen roughly 77% since 2010, reaching levels not seen since the 1980s, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. For a small mountain city of about 19,000 people, Durango faces that problem in concentrated form. Roosa Avenue runs through a city where Fort Lewis College brings roughly 3,200 students on foot, where more than a million tourists arrive annually for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and nearby ski resorts, and where a growing residential population has pushed more cars onto corridors built primarily for vehicle throughput.

The specifics of what the project will build, including whether it involves new crosswalks, traffic calming measures, bike lanes, or signal upgrades, are not detailed in the public solicitation posted through the Rocky Mountain Bid System. But the fact that the city is now seeking construction contractors means the project has already cleared planning, design, and budgeting phases, suggesting years of groundwork behind what is now a ready-to-build effort.

Federal dollars have helped make projects like this possible. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created the Safe Streets and Roads for All program, which has distributed billions to local governments for exactly this kind of work. Colorado has been an active participant, and Durango's timeline aligns with a pattern seen in cities across the state: planning grants awarded in 2022 and 2023, implementation funding following in 2024 and 2025, and construction beginning in 2026.

With bids now open, the city's next step is selecting a contractor and getting work underway on a street that thousands of residents, students, and visitors use every day.