South Martin Street: Big Changes Coming

Martin Street in Longmont is a north-south road in the eastern part of town, and was originally the eastern border of the Chicago-Colorado Colony in the 1870s.

The historic Empson Cannery is along Martin Street:


as is a set of wide (and bumpy) railroad tracks:


South of 3rd Avenue, Martin Street today dead-ends (close to the old Eco-Cycle facility) and wraps around to 1st Avenue:


This won't be the case for too much longer.

Approved and funded, to be completed by the end of next year (2009), Martin Street will be a continuous, improved road between 3rd Avenue to the north and Ken Pratt Boulevard to the South. This future extension has been in the news lately, where it is being positioned as the first-class north-south route in SE Longmont, especially if Emery Street gets closed between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Cyclists for example, would use the new Martin Street extension to get between downtown and the Greenway.

On Martin Street, about as far as we're allowed to go, south of 1st avenue, and looking south. Notice the power line poles on the left hand side of the road. You'll see these again on the other side of the river.


On south to Martin Street on the south side of the river, starting in the commercial Harvest Junction area.


Just north from here, you can see the Martin Street extension planning done years before. Looking north, there is a traffic circle:


... that currently goes nowhere. But the power poles (remember them?) do cross the river.


And just to the north of the circle, a view from the St. Vrain Greenway path. You can see the northern dead-ended Martin Street across the greenery. Once again, the poles provide a perspective of how the road will be routed over the Greenway and St. Vrain River, to eastern Longmont.

A person standing at this exact position at the end of project completion will most likely be under a bridge, with traffic above them.


I'll have to remember to revisit this area once the extension construction gets going.