City staff often work to develop Planning documents with various stakeholders, organizations, and the broader community. These policy documents are adopted by City Council and provide guidance for our future. The “Planning Horizons”, or time ranges of these documents vary. Just as the planning areas, ranging from City-wide to defined neighborhoods, and the topics or issues addressed by each, vary widely from plan to plan. Browse the Community’s current adopted Plans via the left-hand menu.
Central to any planning project is the inclusion of the wider community. We need your input to ensure plans meet the needs of and vision for our community. Get involved in current projects here.
Active Transportation Plan
The Las Cruces Active Transportation Plan builds on the Comprehensive Plan and other ongoing planning efforts to improve conditions for walking and biking across the City for people of all ages and abilities. The Plan serves as a road map for the City to grow as a place where walking and biking can thrive. By enacting smart policy that encourages pedestrian-friendly design, closing pedestrian and bicycle network gaps, and implementing programs that encourage and promote walking and biking, it will be more convenient, comfortable, and safe to walk and bike citywide.
The present Active Transportation Plan was unanimously approved by City Council on October 15, 2018.
Project Maps & Toolkit
- Pedestrian Focus Areas
- Proposed Bikeway Network
- Walkway and Bikeway Toolkit
- Existing Bikeway Network
Pop-Up Bike Projects
Across the country, many communities have initiated pop-up bicycle projects, in particular in response to decreased traffic during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Pop-up bike projects are temporarily installed bicycle lane improvements on city streets intended to provide a fun and safe means to get active, to demonstrate road design meant for both automobiles and bicycles, and to inform future permanent improvements.
As part of the City’s ongoing efforts to improve and promote Active Transportation in Las Cruces, the Community Development Department, in partnership with the Sustainability Office and Public Works Department, installed Pop-up Bike Facilities. The first Pop-up Bike Facilities were installed from July to August, 2021.
The Pop-up Bike Project was located on Idaho Avenue/S. Walnut & Nevada Avenue from the intersections of Lees/Idaho to Nevada/Triviz (to the east of Lynn Middle School and Young Park). It consisted of a mix of facilities, ranging from painted Sharrows on the roadway to Buffered Bike Lanes that provide more protection from motorized vehicles.
Stay tuned for future Pop-up Bike and Walking projects throughout the City of Las Cruces!
Contribute to Bicycle Planning and Projects in Las Cruces by Downloading the Strava App Here.
As a part of the City’s ongoing efforts to further active transportation in our community, collecting accurate and up-to-date data is a necessity. Strava is a free app where you can log your cycling or walking trips. This data is anonymized and available to the City, and aids in data-driven planning and projects. If you would like your cycling routes to be considered in future planning efforts and projects, please consider downloading.
Sign-up, get active, and start logging your cycling trips!
Resources
Elevate Las Cruces
The City’s Comprehensive Plan is an overarching policy document serving as a guide for the future growth and development of our community. The current Comprehensive Plan, Elevate Las Cruces, was unanimously approved by City Council on February 18, 2020.
The Elevate Las Cruces Comprehensive Plan is our community’s unified policy guide and action plan for enhancing Las Crucens’ long-term prosperity and happiness by building a city that is environmentally, fiscally, and socially sustainable.
The first volume of Elevate Las Cruces describes the community’s Vision, and provides policy recommendations to achieve this Vision in the form of a Future Development Program, Future Thoroughfare Program, and Work Program consisting of various Goals, Policies, and Actions to undertake.
You can also view various aspects of the planning process provided in the following volumes. The proceeding volumes provide information about our community used in the planning process, details on the Scenario Planning Initiative undertaken to assess potential future growth scenarios, and an overview of the Community Participation Program.
- Volume II: Community Profile
- Volume III: Scenario Planning Initiative
- Volume IV: Community Participation Program
*Print-ready PDF’s are available for download above. Please contact staff for additional printing options.
Other Citywide Plans
Community Plans Explained
Pre-Planning Outreach
Some neighborhoods have characteristics that make them unique from others – such as a common history, architecture, geographic features, or population density – and may require special planning because their differences don’t conform to broader regulations. To begin the process, planners and the public meet to explore planning options. This could be an area plan, neighborhood plan or community blueprint. If a planning process develops, broader public engagement will be the next step.
Area Plans & Blueprints
Area plans and community planning blueprints are policy plans focused on planning for and addressing the issues in a specific area. A plan or blueprint can take the form of a policy document, future land use map or even an action plan to serve the needs of that particular area. A Community Planning Blueprint is similar to an area plan but is shorter, takes less time to prepare, and focuses on one or two specific issues. A Blueprint can be developed for any location, and will provide more fine-grained, in-depth analysis than some larger-scale planning efforts.
If you are interested in finding out more about whether a Blueprint is right for your neighborhood, take a look at the Community Planning Blueprint Initiative, the City-adopted document that will explain more about Blueprints, how to apply for a Blueprint, and how they are designed and implemented.
Occasionally, both community blueprints and area plans lead to specific sets of regulations such as a special zoning district or overlay. Special zoning or overlay districts are ordinances that have a set of unique zoning and land use provisions and/or development characteristics and are regulatory in nature.
Community Blueprints
- Amador Proximo Community Blueprint
- Apodaca Blueprint
- East Mesa Community Blueprint
- El Paseo Corridor Blueprint
- South Jornada Blueprint
- Sierra Blueprint
Area Plans
- East Lohman Ave. Development Plan
- Lohman Avenue Corridor Plan
- University Corridor Plan
- Infill Policy Plan
- Downtown Master Plan
- Avenida de Mesilla Gateway Plan
- Mesquite Neighborhood Plan
- Alameda Depot
- Las Cruces Innovation & Industrial Park Plan
- El Paseo – S. Solano Study Area
Resources
Regional Plans guide development in the area around Las Cruces.
- Rio Grande Corridor
- One Valley, One Vision 2040
- Transport 2040: Metropolitan Transportation Plan Update
Resources
The Mesilla Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is a multi-jurisdictional planning agency. The MPO is responsible for planning all aspects of the transportation system including bicycle, auto, pedestrian, public transit, and aviation in Las Cruces, Mesilla and part of Doña Ana County.
Contact Us
Email City of Las Cruces Planning: [email protected]