Designing a Better Third Street for Laramie

Three upcoming visioning sessions will give anyone and everyone a chance to discuss ideas to make Laramie's Third Street corridor more appealing and less dangerous.

The Laramie Main Street Alliance will host the sessions along with the City of Laramie on August 8, 9 and 10 at the Historic Train Depot located at First and Kearney.

Plans to resurface the corridor in 2020 present an opportunity to improve more than just the roadway. These sessions will help local leaders like Trey Sherwood, Executive Director of the Laramie Main Street Alliance, put together a plan for making those improvements.

"And right now we feel like there's a lot of improvement to be made there," Sherwood has said previously.

Concerns include safety for bicyclists and pedestrians as well as creating a more attractive atmosphere in order to draw additional foot traffic and bolster sales for downtown businesses.

Public community design meetings will be held from 5-7 p.m. Monday, August 8 and Wednesday, August 10, both at the train depot. Anyone can come and go as they please; Big Hollow Food Co-op will provide the snacks.

Focus groups will be held from 1-5 p.m. Tuesday, August 9.

Representatives and staff of the Wyoming Department of Transportation will meet with consultants at 1 p.m.; those who own buildings and businesses downtown are encouraged to stop in between 2 and 3 p.m.

Bike and pedestrian groups will get a one-on-one with the design team from 3-4 p.m. followed by a stakeholder meeting with Laramie Main Street, Tourism and Laramie Chamber Business Alliance staff, board and volunteers from 4-5 p.m.

A work session with City Council is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 9. Members of the Planning Commission and County Commissioners have been invited to join a walking tour of Third Street after that session.

The public is encouraged to send inspiring photos or images of streetscape design and roadway configurations that should be considered for Third Street. Those .jpg images can be sent -- along with a caption explaining its appeal in 140 characters or less -- to downtownlaramie@gmail.com.

Images will be compiled for a power point and published on Laramie Main Street's Pinterest board "Public Art and Placemaking."

For more information, visit laramiemainstreet.org or call 307-760-3355.