Truckee is moving forward with a redesign of West River Street that includes a public riverfront park across from Dependable Tow as well as additional parking, sidewalks and crosswalks.

“This is still a part of the heart of our historic downtown and it’s been long neglected,” said Mayor David Tirman. “We’ve invested a lot on Donner Pass Road, a lot of improvements with Brickletown, the time is now for West River Street.”

Following two community meetings and meetings with nearby property owners, town staff came up with three alternative designs for the streetscaping aspect of the project between Mill Street and Bridge Street. The first will create parallel parking on the south side of West River Street, adding 65 public parking spots. The second would add parallel parking on the north side of the street in front of the Union Pacific Railroad building, adding 77 parking spaces. The third would add angled parking on the north side of the street creating an additional 89 parking spaces.

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“Businesses and property owners along this road are also interested in optimizing parking along this area,” said Hobbs. “The properties are very close together and do not have much parking as it is.”

The town contracted Lumos & Associates to complete 30% of the design of the streetscape between Mill Street and Bridge Street. Melton Design Group is under contract to design the West River Street Park and the street improvements along the park.

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Currently there are multiple projects planned for that area. These include the Reimagine Bridge Street Project which will install traffic signals at two Bridge Street intersections at Donner Pass Road and East and West River streets, the Old Trestle Distillery Restaurant on West River Street and Hotel Avery II, a 32,790 square foot hotel on South River Street.

“It became clear there were a lot of moving parts in this neighborhood and we really needed a coordinated approach to address that,” said Hillary Hobbs, management analyst for the Town of Truckee.

To accommodate for future development such as the Old Trestle Restaurant, the town is looking to include sidewalks and crosswalks as well as the undergrounding of utilities in the project.

“We want to look at some possibilities of better pedestrian crossings in that area,” said Jessica Thompson, senior engineer for the Town of Truckee. “Which would require possibly moving the center line of the road as well as a very good survey in this area to make sure we have the right property lines.”

The anticipated cost for the project will be higher than the current budget, according to a staff report, which suggests the project would be completed in phases.

“The project components have gotten more expansive so phasing may be necessary,” said Thompson. “It might take us longer to start the project if we wait for all the funding to be available.”

Hannah Jones is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. She can be reached at 530-550-2652 or hjones@sierrasun.com.