Littleton's Main Street Is Being Redrawn Around Nights Like the Candlelight Walk

"For events, we could temporarily shut down the street to host events. There would be event lighting, so the twinkle lights across the street, which creates that lovely environment that everybody likes," Adrienne Burton told CBS Colorado about Littleton's plans for Main Street.

Littleton already has that environment for one night each year. Project Main Street, the first phase of the city's Project Downtown, has moved into preliminary design. The features that drew the most votes at the October open house point toward making that night's setup part of the street year-round, with twinkle lights, room to gather, shade, and a road that can close cleanly for events. Those votes are preferences going into design, not settled choices.

The one night that shows the plan

This year's Candlelight Walk is Friday, November 27, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., based at 2250 Main St. The city's listing promises carolers, dancing Christmas trees, hot cider and Santa's reindeer. The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. Santa then lights the big tree in Bowles Plaza, and a drone show flies over the Melting Pot at the west end of Main Street.

Look at what makes that evening work. There are lights overhead, people gathered in public space, and a street built for cars that holds a crowd for a few hours. The rest of the year, Main Street goes back to the layout Baxter Fain, president of Central Bank and a new business owner on Main Street, described to CBS Colorado: "When you look down Main Street, there's traffic and no trees."

The missing trees have a history. Burton told the station that a disease "really took out the entire tree canopy downtown" before Project Downtown planning began.

What got the green dots

At the October 5 open house at Arapahoe Community College, the city asked people to rank design priorities in five categories, using green dot stickers as votes. The Littleton Independent reported which feature in each category drew the most stickers.

Line up the top row against the Candlelight Walk listing and the match is close. The plan builds on the 2024 concept adopted by City Council, which already called for specialty paving and bollards for event closures along Main Street. It also included amenity zones with trees, gathering spaces, raised planter beds, and gateways at the east and west ends. Closing the street for an event is planned into the street itself.

Concepts shown at the open house went further. They included a curbless street between Curtis Street and Prince Street, a single traffic lane, wider sidewalks, more trees, and patio and seating areas. These are concepts being refined in preliminary design, not an approved final design. Fain described the effect he expects as "almost like a residential park, where you can come and park and stay, and all these storefronts will benefit from that."

Where the space runs out

"Overall, it looks beautiful, but can they do it in the space that they have?" one resident asked at the open house, as reported by the Littleton Independent.

City figures in the Independent's report show downtown Littleton has 3,892 off-street spaces and 1,105 on-street spaces, so the curb accounts for less than a quarter of downtown parking. Along Littleton Boulevard the split is closer, with 1,625 on-street spots and 2,189 off-street.

The sticky notes residents left on the maps were specific. One on Main Street read "This is the busiest parking area." Another said "Food establishments need better access." On the Littleton Boulevard map, notes asked for more safe pedestrian crossings so the parking on the south side would get more use. One read: "All the parking is on the south side. Use this as an anchor to activate the whole corridor."

The companion study, Project PARKing, looks at how the city manages parking and curb space downtown and along Littleton Boulevard, and its findings feed into the Main Street design. Burton told CBS Colorado that "currently, when you come downtown, it's difficult to understand where to park," with no signs directing drivers to available parking. The city also told the Independent it doesn't expect to recommend paid parking as a result of the study, though it could be considered in the future.

The open house wasn't only about cars. One resident who bikes in Littleton told the Independent she never feels safe biking downtown because Main Street has no bike lanes and cars speed. "Pedestrianizing the area makes it more beautiful and more safe," she said.

Whatever design is chosen, the city says the project will replace and repair traffic signals, streetlights, trees, utilities and drainage, and improve accessibility and safety.

From sticky notes to construction

The schedule is long, so several more holiday seasons will happen on the current street. Here is the sequence the city and CBS Colorado have laid out:

1. November 2024. City Council adopts the Project Downtown Concept Plan and names Main Street its top-priority major project.
2. May 2026. The city's project page lists $32.6 million allocated to design and build the Main Street improvements.
3. August 2026. The city announces financing through up to $30 million in Certificates of Participation. The city says investors paid $32.8 million for them.
4. October 5, 2026. The open house at Arapahoe Community College, with surveys launched afterward.
5. January 2027. Preliminary designs go to City Council, according to CBS Colorado, with final approval targeted for early 2027.
6. Through mid-2028. Preliminary and final design, community engagement, and parking and curbside planning continue.
7. Mid-2028 to late 2029. Construction.

The city says it is studying ways to phase construction so downtown businesses stay accessible. It has not published a plan for how the Candlelight Walk or the Western Welcome Week parade would run during the 2028 and 2029 construction window. For 2027, the city's Main Street banner page lists Candlelight Walk and Happy Holidays from November 15 through the end of the year as a priority event period, and notes that the 2027 calendar isn't final.

Weighing in during the busiest weeks

Both surveys are still online, and neither lists a closing date. One is the Main Street Priority Outcomes survey. The other is the public survey and comment map on the Project PARKing site. The timing helps. The next few weeks are when Main Street is at its most crowded, so you can answer the survey while you're actually using the street.

Here's what's on the calendar for the weeks you'd be filling it out:

• Leaves on Main at 2699 Main St. opened September 5. The Littleton Independent reports it sells indoor plants, books and plant-related goods, and it's an easy stop on a gift run.
• Tonic Zero Proof Bar at 5767 S. Rapp St., which the Littleton Downtown Development Authority profiled in August, is another downtown stop before the parade.
• Hudson Holidays at Hudson Gardens runs November 27 through January 3. Presale runs November 6 at 10 a.m. through November 8 at 11:59 p.m., and dated tickets go on sale November 9 at 10 a.m. It opens the same night as the Candlelight Walk.
• Aspen Grove has a coat drive from November 1 to 30, Rescue Puppy Yoga on November 14, Karaoke, Carols & Cocoa on November 27 and Holiday Wagon Rides on November 29, according to its event listings.

On November 27, walk Main Street between the parade and the drone show and pay attention to where the crowd bunches up, where the sidewalk feels tight, and where you'd want a patio or a tree. Both surveys are still open, and preliminary designs are expected before council in January.

At Pinette Realty Group, we follow projects like Project Main Street because they shape downtown Littleton for years. If you'd like to talk through what the redesign timeline could mean for a home near downtown, we're glad to sit down with you. Start Your Home Journey.