Mesa County will contribute federal funding to a project that also involves the City of Grand Junction and will make a section of North Avenue safer.

According to a county news release, in June 2022 the North Avenue Enhanced Transit Corridor Study identified a section of the roadway in need of better safety and access. The north side of North Avenue, from 29 1/2 Road to the Interstate 70 business loop, will get a multimodal path as part of the project. Most of this part of the road has no sidewalk on the north side.

Grand Junction has been actively pursuing funding to construct a portion of this multimodal path, and it secured a number of grants and used local funding to finalize the design and purchase right-of-way.

Construction of this path, which will start next year, will increase access to Grand Valley Transit, and Mesa County was allocated $2.45 million for transit-system enhancements as part of the Colorado Department of Transportation long-range transit strategic plan. Given the need for increased connectivity and improved safety on North Avenue, Mesa County will contribute up to $1.25 million of this funding toward the city’s North Avenue project. No local match is needed to use this money.