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About Envision Shooks Run

View Video About Shooks Run
 

Envision Shooks Run Facilities Master Plan Available for Review

Following several months of development and an extensive public involvement process, the Envision Shooks Run Facilities Master Plan was formally recommend by the City Planning Commission for approval on January 19, 2017 and was approved through a Resolution by the City of Colorado Springs City Council at its meeting February 14, 2017.  An amendment process is included in the plan to enable flexibility for taking advantage of market conditions and funding opportunities.  Major amendments will require a public process whereas minor amendments will be a staff responsibility.

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Download the Facilities Master Plan
Download the Facilities Master Plan Executive Summary

Comments about the plan and planning process by City Council and Planning Commission

  • Shooks Run is a City asset and a critical part of our community. This is critical for rebuilding our infrastructure especially in this part of town. We need to treat it right.  This is exactly the kind of thing we should be doing to help bring the City together.  The Envision Shooks Run plan is exciting and forward thinking with tremendous potential for the City. It addresses critical improvements to an aging infrastructure, redevelopment plans, and greenway improvements.”

  • The Facilities Master Plan is practical and the most visionary document the City has ever produced.  It’s comprehensive, detailed, inclusive through the an impressive public process, it includes all relevant City departments and compliments other planning efforts. It addresses a lot of the issues brought up by the public.”

  • It took a lot of work from a lot of people to produce the Envision Shooks Run Facilities Master Plan. It will provide direction and help define the City for many years to come.”

  • The plan affects the core of our downtown area.  Every successful city will say that a strong core is critically important to overall vibrancy of a City. This plan supports the mission of improving our downtown area.”

  • The only thing that would make this plan even better is if we were in a position to move up the timeline and get it implemented sooner.”

Next Steps

The project team is now working on developing the Sustainable Infrastructure Plan (SIP) to compliment the Facilities Master Plan.  The purpose of the SIP is to prioritize projects, identify cost estimates for each project, determine available and needed funding, and establish potential project phasing.  The SIP will be designed as a working document for City staff as guidance for project implementation and to enable quicker response as infrastructure needs and funding availability changes.

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Citizens Recommend Transformative Corridor Theme

Following extensive community input, Shooks Run now has a recommended a proposed corridor theme to guide how infrastructure improvements and enhancements are implemented over the next 50 years. More than 80 citizens attended and participated in the June 14, 2016 Public Workshop #4 and more than 100 attended and participated in the Sept. 27, 2016 Public Workshop #5 confirming the “Transformative” theme and helping to define the next level of detail that will result in the Envision Shooks Run Facilities Master Plan.

Just a few of the public comments heard from the public during the recent Public Workshops include:

“The team did a good job of listening to the comments from the last meeting and scaling back the transformative elements in the north areas, while keeping them south, thanks.”  

"I love that the city is looking at improving the Shooks Run Corridor.”

See the results of citizen responses to the Keypad Polling questions asked during the meeting.

Updated Project Schedule

Facilities Master Plan Schedule

With Public Workshops #4 and #5,  theJune 14, 2016 Public Workshop #4, the Envision Shooks Run project has now completed the Vision and Focus milestones of the study. The “Vision” phase involved confirming the vision for the corridor and surrounding area as previously defined by other community studies and planning processes.  The “Focus” phase refined the multiple visions and focused the direction based on community desires for the corridor (the “Transformative” theme has been recommended and confirmed through the public involvement process). The project now moves into the “Planning” phase to determine how to best compliment the corridor vision with specific alternatives, moving toward development of a Facilities Master Plan.

The project schedule was revised in June of 2016 to respond to the community desire for Shooks Run to be greatly improved from what it is today.  The key change was the addition of the development of a Facilities Master Plan to the project.  The value of this addition is improved guidance to reach the goals for Shooks Run defined in the recommended Transformative Corridor Theme.  The City will continue the original project effort after the Facilities Master Plan is developed and presented to City Council in late 2016.

The Transformative Theme

Having received hundreds of public comments/suggestions during the workshops, neighborhood and small group meetings, and elected official meetings, the community has directed the City toward a theme focused on using transportation, infrastructure and parks as seeds to encourage economic growth along the Shooks Run corridor.

This corridor theme includes the necessary bridge and stormwater/drainage improvements, and goes beyond a linear park to establish a new vision for the Shooks Run corridor as a central part of the City. The desire expressed by the public is for the improvements to help stimulate new uses along the corridor benefitting the greater community, and tying parts of the corridor more closely to the ongoing revitalization of downtown. The recommended corridor theme is the most transformative and will provide guidance for future changes along the corridor. During the June 14 public workshop, the public provided feedback on several topics specific to the recommended corridor theme including:

  • Neighborhood Character Planning and Impacts
  • Business Development Opportunities

  • Environmental/Historical Preservation

  • Funding/Maintenance

  • Capital Improvements and Maintenance Funding

  • Destination Enhancements/Community Amenities

  • Public Safety

  • Bridge/Drainage Infrastructure

  • Improved Connections & Parks

  • Partnership Opportunities

  • Directly Affected Property Owner Information 

  • Project Need/How We Got to This Point

Other feedback received to date from the public includes support for:

  • east-west connections from neighborhoods to downtown

  • mixed use development and more destination-type amenities

  • attracting more people to Shooks Run, especially south of Pikes Peak Avenue, to enhance safety, usability, and overall value to the community

The most important criteria to the community for selection of the recommended corridor theme:

  • Connections between neighborhoods and downtown

  • Completion of the Legacy Loop

  • New amenities and facilities – for the neighborhoods

  • New amenities and facilities - for the broader city

  • Completion of aesthetic enhancements

Citizens have also noted that opportunities for partnerships to implement improvements and economic development along the corridor are somewhat important. And, while concern was expressed about private property issues and how the city will address them, they also noted that the project should not focus on minimizing impacts on surrounding properties or minimizing the overall project cost as primary goals of the project. Maintenance of the improvements and how improvements will be funded continues to be an unresolved question, and the possibility of removing existing bridges (and therefore closing road connections) at certain key street crossings of Shooks Run will require further analysis as the project goes forward.

A Letter from the City Project Manager

Project Boundary Area (click to view) 

Project Boundary Area (click to view) 

Facilities MASTER Plan

Review Facilities Master Plan Here

Review Facilities Master Plan Executive Summary here
 

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Send us an email to share your comments and feedback, we appreciate your input!
 

Upcoming Events

For a list of all upcoming presentations click here.

Public Workshop #6
August 8th, 2017 - 5 to 7 P.M.

First Presbyterian Weber Street Center - 105 N. Weber Street - Presentation at 5:30 P.M.
 

Previous Meetings/Events

Public Workshop #6: Aug 8, 2017
Meeting Documents and Summary

Public Workshop #5: Sept 27, 2016
Meeting documents and Summary

Public Workshop #4: June 14, 2016
Meeting documents and Summary

Public Workshop #3: Jan. 28, 2016
Meeting documents and Summary

Public Workshop #2: Oct. 29, 2015
Meeting documents and Summary

Public Workshop #1: June 18, 2015
Meeting documents and Summary
 

Community Values Driving the Project

Public Input - Community Values
 

Quotable

“This robust planning process with extensive stakeholder engagement is a great example of how we ought to be transitioning our waterways - into amenities that can achieve multiple benefits. We can manage drainage issues, increase wildlife habitat, generate recreational opportunities, increase water quality, and protect critical Utility infrastructure sustainably with careful planning and support from citizens and community leaders.”
Allison Plute,
Fountain Creek Watershed Project Manager, Colorado Springs Utilities

“Addressing the problems throughout the Shooks Run Corridor will positively impact property values, contribute to citizen quality of life and promote future development opportunities. If you don’t know how poor of shape it is in now, just walk it. The corridor has the potential to be a linear park with a trail close to the creek that enables users to better interact with the waterway. Other communities, and even other countries, have realized the importance of their water features, maintaining and sustaining them as community assets. It’s past due for us in Colorado Springs to pay more attention to our creeks and streams, enhancing them and preserving them for future generations.”
Chuck Donachy,
Patty Jewett Neighborhood Association and local citizen