West 38th Avenue has long been considered the heart of Wheat Ridge, and city leaders are now moving forward with preliminary concepts for what they're calling a "refresh" of the corridor.The renderings include multimodal paths, more trees, improved lighting and better traffic flow on 38th Avenue between Wadsworth and Sheridan. City leaders discussed the future of the 38th Avenue Main Street Refresh at a study session on Monday night, advancing two preliminary concepts and agreeing to move forward with public engagement.Wheat Ridge voters gave the green light to the 2J sales tax extension in November 2023, securing funding for vital public infrastructure projects that include transforming 38th Avenue to better connect the community while prioritizing safety. Funding for the 38th Avenue project totals around $10 million for improvements.Lauren Mikulak, Wheat Ridge's community development director, said the idea has been in the works for years. Watch Adria Iraheta's report in the player below: Wheat Ridge's 'Main Street' on verge of change"When we had contemplated doing a larger scale streetscape improvement over the last couple of years, they just haven't moved forward for a variety reasons," Mikulak said. "What we are back here with tonight is very consciously scoped as a refresh. It's not a reconstruction. It's not a Wadsworth.She said community feedback has shaped the direction of the project.Jeff Hurlburt, owner and general manager of Clancy's Irish Pub on West 38th, said the corridor is central to the city's identity."We always joke around and say that Clancy's represents the city of Wheat Ridge," Hurlburt said.Clancy's has been in Wheat Ridge for 53 years. Hurlburt said the move to the 38th Avenue corridor was a deliberate one."We saw the moving of our business to the main 38th corridor as beneficial in the long run for the business, more exposure," Hurlburt said. During Mondays study session, Councilmember Scott Ohm said he sees opportunity in the proposal."It's a give and take, and if we can take some of the road with and give that back to have some more like food patios, I'd be strongly in favor of that, of having more patios for restaurants," Ohm said.Not everyone is enthusiastic. Wheat Ridge resident Guy Nahmiach said he worries about how construction could affect the corridor's businesses and the city's upcoming ballot asks."They're tired of construction for another five years or whatever it's going to be, they're tired of traffic, and a lot of people will avoid 38th, and we're going to hear that from business owners," Nahmiach said.Hurlburt, a lifelong Wheat Ridge resident, has seen the change on 38th Avenue over the years.I used to walk up this street when I was a little kid walking to elementary, junior high school, he recalled. "38th Avenue has become a very busy street, and I think a lot of that just has to do with the increased traffic and population of Colorado."He said hes open to what a refresh could bring."Wheat Ridge essentially is kind of a hidden gem," Hurlburt said. We always welcome new ideas and new additions that can complement the street, and obviously we want people to continue to view Wheat Ridge as a place where they can start a family or buy a home or start a business and be successful.The next step in the process is public engagement with residents and business owners along the corridor."The idea is that the engagement that we would do would be very targeted, so we would have general engagement for anyone who is a tenant or a property owner along the corridor where they would get information online and have some office hours where they can drop by and ask questions and provide feedback," said neighborhood engagement specialist Ashley Holland. "[For business owners], those would be more targeted conversations, one on one or small group conversations, because we know that they might have more questions or might want to look at the alternatives in greater detail."Since the project is still very much in the conceptual phases, city leaders said theres no set timeline just yet though construction could begin sometime in 2028.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less