City Council Votes to Adopt Third Street Renovation Plan

Third Street in Laramie is one step closer to receiving a long-awaited face-lift. The Laramie City Council voted to adopt the guiding document for improvements to Third Street during their meeting Tuesday night.

The proposal, titled ‘3, 2, 1. . . 3^rd Street! An action plan for enhancing 3^rd Street’ provides ideas and guidance for improvements to the street, which would coincide with the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s Third Street resurfacing project scheduled for 2020.

Councilor Dave Paulekas said he supports the proposal, calling it long overdue.

“If you look at our Third Street, it hasn’t changed since I’ve been here and that’s probably over 40 years,” Paulekas said. “It’s time for an update and also it coincides for the repaving of Third Street, so it makes sense since WYDOT is going in there, to pony on with them and perhaps create some other improvements to that street.”

Paulekas said other updates proposed in the project plan include improvements to sidewalks and the façade along the thoroughfare.

An addendum to the plan provided by WYDOT lists other possible projects that could be included with their 2020 resurfacing plan, such as curb extensions and lower speed limits for increased pedestrian safety and restricted left turns at key intersections during peak hours to decrease the number of crashes.

Paulekas says restricting left turns was one of a few issues he and business owners in Laramie had with the proposal.

“There are some businesses that we’ve heard from that have grave concerns because they feel their business will be severely impacted by no left hand turning into their streets – the main ones I’m thinking of are Bagelmakers, Qdoba and Subway.”

Other concerns held by Laramie residents were compiled in the proposal in a section dedicated to public comment. Many of them had to do with parking on Third Street and whether the plans called for new parking to be created.

Paulekas said that while the City Council voted to adopt the proposal, it still has some obstacles to overcome before it becomes the official plan of the city, the major one being funding source.

“WYDOT will pay for the re-doing of the street and any sidewalk and curb replacements they will do,” Paulekas said. “The additional features that are included in the plan will have to have a funding source of their own and that’s yet to be determined.”