The city has a first draft of a Boulder Street plan, and we’ve seen it. On Wednesday, Oct. 7, six of us from the neighborhood met with Todd Frisbie and the Traffic Engineering team at the Traffic Management Center. They unrolled a printed plan of the corridor about 20 feet long and walked us through it. We spent most of our time on the stretch through our neighborhood, from Wahsatch to Hancock.
The city had already met with the Olympic & Paralympic Training Center, and that conversation shaped this first version. While the olympic athletes ride bikes and recumbent bikes all over the city, the training center said they frequently use Boulder at some point in their training. Boulder has been a safety problem for them, and that is what led to adding bike lanes in the city’s first draft.
For Wahsatch to Hancock, the draft includes:
- One travel lane in each direction
- Buffered bike lanes
- On-street parking
- A new pedestrian crossing at Corona Street
Here are some of the questions we asked the city:
- Why such a big change? One of us asked whether the city had tried something smaller first, like flashing speed signs or a lower speed limit. The city said Boulder is due to be restriped after repaving, and putting back what’s there wouldn’t improve the issue on Boulder St. This is a chance to make the street safer and better connect the neighborhood, while addressing speeding, crashes, and falling traffic counts. Passing on it, they said, could mean waiting at least another decade for the next chance.
- Congestion at the signals: with one lane each way, will traffic stack up? The traffic engineers said the numbers don’t support that and Boulder will still move well.
- Emergency vehicles: the roadway width stays the same, so cars can pull into the buffered bike lanes to let ambulances and fire trucks through. The city also plans to meet with UCHealth staff to make sure the plan works for them.
- Left turn at Institute: the draft had no left-turn lane at Boulder and Institute. One of us asked that it be put back. Many of us use Institute for all sorts of trips, and a turn lane keeps traffic from backing up and makes the turn safer for everyone, including parents taking their kids to Columbia.
- Crossing at Prospect: there is a long stretch between safe pedestrian crossings, so we asked for one at Prospect and Boulder, possibly with a safety island, bump-outs, and less parking near the intersection. It would help parents walking their kids to Columbia and make for a safer trip to Stellina or your neighbor’s.
East of Hancock, the draft keeps the center turn lane and the bike lanes continue, with some changes to on-street parking. We didn’t spend much time on that part of the plan.
This is still a draft. The city hopes to have a definitive plan by the end of the year, so now is the time to weigh in. Send your thoughts to Traffic.Eng@coloradosprings.gov. To help us shape shared recommendations, email info@msrna.org or sign up at middleshooksrun.org/volunteer.
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