Route
Several design iterations of route were
proposed with a final route that incorporated
the following:
2014 Event Profile
On Sunday, July 20, 2014 Fort Collins hosted its
inaugural Open Streets event, temporarily
closing sections of Laurel and Whedbee Streets
to motorized traffic and opening the street to
the community to “Come play in the street.”
A new initiative
introduced to Fort
Collins by the City’s
FC Bikes Program,
Open Streets events
provide a safe, carfree public area for
community members
to explore their
neighborhoods through healthy and active
modes of transportation. With more than 100
documented Open Streets initiatives in North
America, these car-free events are gaining
popularity as innovative ways to achieve
environmental, social, economic and public
health goals.
In 2014, 1,958
community members
participated in the
first Fort Collins
Open Streets event.
In 2014, a Fort Collins Open Streets planning
committee was established to help shape the
City’s new initiative. The following goals were
established by the planning committee for the
initiative:
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Promote and increase active transportation.
Promote and increase physical activity and
social health.
Increase awareness and acceptability of
streets as public facilities with multiple uses.
Build community by engaging residents of all
ages, abilities, and backgrounds.
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Goals of the event
Available distance for the closure
Detour routes for motorized traffic
Construction schedules
Other large event schedules
The final event route consisted of .75 miles of
Laurel Street, from Remington Street to Lesser
Drive, and .75 miles of Whedbee Street, from
Laurel Street to Prospect Road. The total route
length was 1.5 miles. Forming a “T” shape, the
route allowed for a roundtrip distance of three
miles for participants to safely recreate and
explore their streets.
Four intersections remained open to cross traffic
and were supervised by City police officers and
volunteers. This allowed for motor vehicles to
pass through the event without having to
detour too far around the closure.
Participant Feedback
FC Bikes’ conducted a thorough and
comprehensive evaluation process in order to
set a standard for events to come and to better
understand the impact of the Open Streets
event. Observational counting and intercept
surveys allowed FC Bikes to collect valuable
data to measure progress toward the
established goals.
The following graphs portray participant
feedback from the City’s inaugural Open
Streets event in relation to the goals of the
initiative.
Promote and increase physical activity and
social health.
>3 hours
8%
How long do you plan to stay at Open
Streets? n=310
2-3 hours
10%
1.5-<2
hours
14%
<30
min
8%
30-<60 min
33%
1-<1.5
hours
27%
Promote and increase active transportation.
How did you get to Open Streets today?
n=326
Carpool
14%
Other 1%
Walked/ran
34%
Drove alone
17%
Bike 34%
Increase awareness and acceptability of
streets as public facilities with multiple uses.
I have learned about new transportation
options at Open Streets, n=302
Strongly
disagree
4%
Strongly
agree 29%
Disagree
9%
Agree
14%
Neutral
44%
Open Streets emphasizes the many uses of
public streets, n=309
Strongly
disagree
1%
Disagree
1%
Agree 24%
Strongly
agree 59%
Neutral
15%
Build community by engaging residents of
all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
Open Streets strengthens our community,
n=300
Disagree
0%
Strongly
disagree
0%
Neutral
6%
Agree
14%
Participant Demographics
Through all programming efforts, FC Bikes aims
to attract participants that are representative of
the Fort Collins population. The graphs below
demonstrate the demographics of community
members that attended the inaugural Open
Streets.
Gender of Survey Respondents, n=311
Strongly
agree
80%
Male
41%
Everyone is welcome at Open Streets,
n=311
Strongly
disagree
1%
Female
59%
Agree 6%
Neutral 0%
Disagree
0%
Age, in years, of Survey Respondents, n-308
<26
8%
>65
9%
56-65
14%
Strongly
agree 93%
46-55
12%
26-35
27%
36-45
30%
Ethnicity of Survey Respondents, n=304
Other
1%
Asian
2%
American
Indian or
Alaska
Native
1%
Hispanic/La
tino
4%
Black or
African
American
1%
White
91%
Fort Collins Ethnicity Demographics, US
Census
Hispanic or
American
Indian or
Native
American
0%
Asian
3%
White
86%
Latino
10%
Black or
African
American
1%
In addition to the programming partners, three
information booths and an EMS station were
Partners were surveyed post-event and
71% agreed or strongly agreed that it was
worthwhile to participate in Open Streets.
Additionally, 82% agreed or strongly
agreed that they would participate again
as a partner.
Programming Partners
Local business partners with similar goals as
those to the event were invited to host booths
and activities along the route. All activities
were free and open the public. This year, 47
local businesses participated, encouraging
participants to engage in healthy, active
lifestyles.
Businesses hosted a wide variety of engaging
activities, including but not limited to:
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Acupuncture
Balloon animals
Eyes exams
Face-painting
Musical instruments
On-street bowling
Protected bike lane demonstration
Pure Barre
Yoga
Youth bicycle lessons
And much, much more!
strategically positioned along the route.
Furthermore, three Emergency Medical
Technicians patrolled the route on bicycle.
Volunteers
Over 85 volunteers helped bring this event to
life. Uniformed in highly visible teal Open
Streets’ t-shirts, volunteers were dispersed all
along the 1.5 mile route offering support and
smiling faces. The table below lists the variety of
positions and the number of people who
helped fill those spots.
Volunteer Position
# Filled
Set Up
7
Block Captains
12
Evaluation Surveyors
14
Information Booth Attendants
12
Intersection Superheroes
8
Mobile Superheroes
17
Evaluation Observers
9
Breakdown
10
Total
89
Volunteers were surveyed post-event and 93%
agreed or strongly agreed that they would
volunteer for Open Streets again.
Marketing
As a new event, FC Bikes solicited the services of
a marketing consultant, Mantooth Marketing, in
order to develop a fun and inviting brand for
the Open Streets. From determining the
appropriate name for the initiative to creating a
color palette and logo, Mantooth Marketing
was a valuable asset throughout the process.
Several marketing strategies were implemented
in an effort to promote Open Streets to a large
audience. The following communication tools
were used:
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City News
Event posters
Multiple articles in the Coloradoan
newspaper
Over the street banner at Laurel &
College Ave.
Postcards mailed to residents within a
half-mile radius of the route
Posted on all local community calendars
Radio ads
Radio interviews on 88.9FM KRFC
Recreator ad
Postcards distributed at events and
around town
Staff
Last, but not least, the event staff consisted of
the following team members:
In the end, the City and community of Fort
Event
Manager:
Tessa Greegor
Event
Coordinator:
Becky Moriarty City of Fort
Collins, FC
Bikes
Evaluation
Coordinator:
Nick Heimann
City of Fort
Collins, FC
Bikes Intern;
Colorado
School of
Public Health
Marketing
Coordinator:
Isis Diloreti
Mantooth
Marketing
Programming
Coordinator:
Kelly Steinway
Mantooth
Marketing
Volunteer
Coordinator:
Kelly Poto
Bike Fort
Collins
City of Fort
Collins, FC
Bikes
Collins hosted a meaningful inaugural Open
Streets event in 2014, one that effectively met
the event goals and offered important lessons
for future events.