LONGMONT -- The city of Longmont and the Longmont Downtown Development Authority on Thursday hosted a couple of meetings for downtown property and business owners and residents, discussing plans for Alleyscape, part two.

2013 will see Alleyscape construction on the west side of Main Street between Third and Sixth avenues, which will be torn up and redone in the same manner the alleys on the east side were in 2012. Construction is expected to begin in late April and early May, according to Chris Huffer, the city's project manager for Alleyscape.

Along with the installation of new permeable pavers, new light fixtures will be put in and all of the wiring and utility cables will be buried.

The overhead power and utility lines behind the Longmont Theatre Company, 513 Main St., will be a thing of the past when the Alleyscape project for the
The overhead power and utility lines behind the Longmont Theatre Company, 513 Main St., will be a thing of the past when the Alleyscape project for the west side of Main Street is completed. ( LEWIS GEYER )

But the west side is significantly different from the east side, requiring a somewhat different approach, Huffer said.

"The east side has larger public lots and the turnover is greater," Huffer said. "On the west side the public lots are used extensively but they are much smaller."

Consolidating the trash containers will also be a bigger challenge on the west side, he said.

"On the east side we put the large trash receptacles, enclosures, in the public parking lots -- (LDDA) property," he said. "We don't have that luxury on the west side."

It's likely that on the west side, smaller enclosures will be shared by multiple businesses, but those details are still to be worked out, Huffer said.

As on the east side, the breezeway sculptures, Los Arcos de Longmont, will be removed and painted while Alleyscape construction is going on. Huffer said it's his hope that at the time the arches are removed from the west side breezeways the company doing that can also reinstall them on the east side in a different location.

Once redone, the breezeways on the west side will look a slightly different from those on the east side, Huffer said.

"We are looking to try to increase the amount of landscaping that's in the breezeways, while still leaving room for tables, benches and whatever else may come up in the future," he said.

The light poles and flower pots will be the same as those in the east side breezeways. As for the light poles in the alley itself, the ones on the west side will be slightly shorter, giving that alley a more "intimate, pedestrian feel" that better reflects the surroundings, Huffer said.

He said Greeley-based J-2 Contracting hasn't officially been signed to do the west side construction, as it did on the east side. Once the city's engineering plans are finalized, J-2 will submit its estimate. The city is under no obligation hire the company again, but Huffer said he doesn't anticipate having to put the job out to bid.

The $3.76 million Alleyscape project is being paid for by the city and the LDDA. The city's portion of the money is coming from the storm drainage, street fund and electric funds. The LDDA's share of the total cost is $943,750.

Aside from reinstallation of Los Arcos, all that remains to be done on the east side is to finish the southern end of the alley in the 300 block, install light poles in the breezeways and put in some final landscaping touches, Huffer said.
