Project Downtown - FAQs

The City of Littleton is developing a downtown mobility & streetscape improvements plan, called Project Downtown, to guide the City’s investment decisions to improve multimodal connectivity, parking, pedestrian safety, wayfinding, and streetscape enhancements (i.e., lighting, trees and wider sidewalks) in Downtown Littleton.

The City of Littleton hired Consor Engineers, LLC, a transportation planning and engineering consulting firm, to build a multidisciplinary team to lead efforts around transportation planning, multimodal design, streetscape design, historic resources, civil engineering, and public and stakeholder outreach. This team reports to Adrienne Burton, Senior Project Manager in Public Works for the City of Littleton.

The project team will evaluate multimodal options to improve travel to and through Downtown Littleton as well as streetscape enhancements.

Here is a list of project components to be evaluated:

• Safe Systems
  • Safe and comfortable mobility and access for all road users
  • Safer roadway speeds
  • Enhanced street design
• Complete Networks and priority streets
  • Enhanced bicycle connectivity
  • First and final mile transit connections
  • Safe routes to school
  • Pedestrian comfort and safe crossings
  • Multiple ways to get around for all ages and abilities
• Enhanced streetscape and wayfinding
  • Street and pedestrian lighting
  • Street furnishings (benches, bike racks, trash receptacles, etc.)
  • Consistent sidewalks
  • Signage and wayfinding
  • Trees and plantings
• Green Infrastructure
  • Sustainable stormwater runoff while increasing water for trees and plants
• Multimodal alleyways
  • Revitalize forgotten spaces
  • Alternative pathways across the City
• Littles Creek trail enhancements
  • Enhance connectivity to and from Littles Creek
• Gateway opportunities
  • Visual signals that you have arrived at Downtown Littleton
• Parking Management
  • Parking supply and demand
  • Business parking and access needs
• Business needs
  • Outdoor patios
• Traffic calming elements
  • Use data to manage downtown vehicle speeds and volumes

Downtown Littleton is a popular destination for locals and visitors to shop and dine, and it connects to the Arapahoe Community College campus. The recently adopted Littleton Downtown Development Authority (LDDA), the Littleton Business Chamber, and Historic Downtown Littleton Merchants (HDLM) will be included in the project's outreach efforts to create a single vision of a thriving downtown core. Consequently, the timing of the Project Downtown effort presents an opportunity for the City to create a thoughtful response to community feedback, business community concerns, and upcoming capital improvement projects.

The project area will primarily focus on the downtown core which, for this planning effort, will be defined as the area within the boundary of Santa Fe Boulevard, Rio Grande Street, Powers Avenue, and Little’s Creek approximately.

Final recommendations will be guided by extensive community input, technical analysis of Littleton’s Downtown transportation network, the streetscape and urban design elements, and previous visioning efforts, including the City's 2040 Comprehensive Plan, 2018-2019 Transportation Master Plan and City Council Goals and Work Plan.

The project team will present their findings to the City of Littleton City Council four (4) times throughout the project to report on their progress, discoveries, preliminary recommendations, and next steps. A final report and implementation plan will be approved in early 2024. Implementation of the plan will be phased, and more details will be shared closer to the approval of the plan.

The project aims to enhance mobility options throughout Downtown Littleton for all modes of transportation by making walking, biking, and taking transit safer and more comfortable for people of all ages and abilities. Additionally, this plan will identify options for streetscape improvements (i.e., lighting, trees and wider sidewalks) that incorporate green infrastructure and will create moments that continue to showcase the City’s historic charm and character.

A public engagement effort is underway to capture the hopes, concerns, and desires of residents, business owners, and other interested parties to create a shared vision of a thriving, safe, and well-connected Downtown Littleton. 

Community Engagement Activities

There will be four (4) community engagement activities during the project where residents will provide input and prioritize what transportation challenges, streetscape improvements, and downtown characteristics are most important to them using online surveys, in-person and online mapping tools. At each engagement milestone the project team will share their analysis and findings related to Downtown transportation network and streetscape improvement needs.

Stakeholder Working Group

The project team will collaborate with business owners, property developers, neighborhood organizations, community, and cultural leaders to support the development of the project’s vision, goals, objectives, and implementation. Members will share their insights and feedback about emerging trends from community input and preliminary recommendations from the project team.

Small Group Workshops

The City of Littleton has a long and diverse list of stakeholders that may have competing priorities and needs. The project team will gather differing perspectives to find common ground through small group workshops with residents, business leaders, and other interested parties. The project team will facilitate these conversations to reach a consensus on a path forward by revealing and agreeing on tradeoffs

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