GREELEY — The city is making steady progress on a transportation master plan that officials hope will lay the groundwork for safe, comfortable travel that supports a strong economy and high quality of life. 

That was what came out of the council’s work session Tuesday night, during which the council received its third update on the plan since work began in spring 2021. 

While presenting the plan to council, public works director Paul Trombino said the goal of the plan is to raise quality of life throughout Greeley through “context-sensitive investment:” that is, recognizing that different solutions will work for different parts of the city and making improvements accordingly.

Trombino said the goal is to incorporate into the plan elements of investment in higher vehicle capacity, multimodal transportation investment and bike and pedestrian investment. Those broad categories would include improvements such as new streets and roads, traffic calming, mobility and transit hubs, improved sidewalks, separated bike lanes and more. 

In its draft, the city has identified numerous priority corridors that would need the most attention: Eighth Avenue, 11th Avenue, 35th Avenue, 59th Avenue and 83rd Avenue running north-south, and Fourth Street, 10th Street, 20th Street and U.S. Highway 34 running east-west. 

As an example of how one corridor could be improved in various ways that serve different uses, Trombino highlighted Highway 34. Improvements could include a regional transit service from Greeley to Loveland with a mobility hub at Centerplace; better interchanges at 35th and 47th avenues; pedestrian safety measures at 11th, 17th, 83rd and 131st avenues; and better traffic-signal operation technology along the entire corridor. 

There is still a long way to go before the plan is finalized. City staff has worked on it since spring 2021, and it has been discussed by the city council in three work sessions. Next, staff will solicit input from the public on the draft plan before bringing it to the Citizens Transportation Advisory Board. The council is scheduled to discuss that feedback in a work session this summer.