Loveland’s Surprise Street Makeover: 3rd and 4th Street Under Construction Simultaneously

Many cities in Colorado see "sudden" construction project pop up, from time to time. Downtown Loveland's already "messy" construction project in 2025 got added upon, midstream. Why?

Folks in Loveland had been calling the 4th Street renovation a "Neccessary Nightmare" before the City brought more construction a block away, to 3rd Street. Car and pedestrian traffic was already frustrating enough, then the mess just got bigger; not for a long period of time, yet it was a pain.

Why Did Loveland Decide to Fix 3rd Street During 4th Street Work?

I was walking along Lincoln Avenue in Downtown Loveland on September 16, 2025, and found that I could not get from 1st to 4th while walking on the east side of the street due to "more construction." I could hardly believe it; I figured that something they were doing on 4th Street, had triggered something underneath 3rd Street. That was not the case.

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I did what most anyone would do, and Googled "3rd Street Construction Loveland," and found my answer. The City of Loveland had posted about the project only one day prior, on September 15; they were improving the 3rd Street crosswalks for Lincoln and Cleveland. I was surprised by the late notice of the project; it gave me the impression that it wasn't on their planning calendar.

It turns out that the City had gotten $250,000 from CDOT's Revitalizing Main Streets program, to make the crosswalks for 3rd Street safer for pedestrians and those on bicycles. That money was awarded "earlier in the year" according to the City of Loveland. They did not specify exactly when the money came in, but they did state that if the project wasn't completed by October of 2025, that $250,000 would be rescinded by CDOT.

All I could do was imagine a scene where the city was so caught up in the 4th Street project that the 3rd Street project fell off the radar until somebody realized they only had a couple of weeks to get it done, so they scrambled to "use it or lose it."