A provisional Midtown street transformation initiative in response to COVID-19

Midtown Reimagined: The Village of Ruidoso has engaged a professional engineering firm to conduct a traffic control plan of the Midtown district to investigate the nonpermanent expansion of public pedestrian space through a reduction in traffic lanes (from four to three) as an adaptive response to COVID-19 emergency public health orders. Learn more >>

Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic the situation continues to evolve. As a result, our community must find safe, healthy ways to adapt in realtime. One small-scale, quick, and affordable tool to help mitigate the health, social, and economic impact of the virus is to create safe distancing and increased outdoor public space through reconfigured roadways. To this effect, the Village of Ruidoso has engaged a professional engineering firm to conduct a traffic control plan of the Midtown District.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the nonpermanent expansion of public space through a reduction in traffic lanes (from four to three) as an adaptive response to COVID-19 emergency public health orders. Sidewalk dining and outdoor retail kiosks are examples of how an interim Midtown redesign can help local businesses adapt to COVID-19 mandated restrictions and provide enhanced public safety and services while supporting the economic vitality of this essential commercial hub.

By simply painting new striping, installing low-cost barriers, and widening pedestrian areas, a temporary shift in how Midtown is configured has the potential to revive lives and livelihoods, create new space for pedestrians and local businesses, foster community innovation during a time of crisis, and perhaps—if successful—be an improvement that evolves well beyond the pandemic.

Coupled with community engagement – especially with those who live, work or use the district with frequency – it allows our community to experience the new design before permanent changes are implemented and learn more about the benefits and challenges. Input will be gathered from local stakeholders, a public survey, and a community outreach campaign to ensure that the voices of a wide variety of community members is an essential part of project development and implementation.

Adaptive use of streets is a low cost, high benefit recovery tool for this crisis. Proven benefits of roadway reconfigurations (known as a Road Diet) include a crash reduction of 19 to 47 percent, reduced vehicle speed, improved mobility and access, and integration of the roadway into alternative uses that result in enhanced safety and quality of life.