As the deadline drew close to use federal funding allocated for a large road reconstruction project on North Broadway (Violet to US36), the Transportation Advisory Board (see project page) revisited the design and found it not up to current city standards for safe bicycling and Vision Zero best practices. The Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) and Community Cycles proposed changes to the plan. Working with city transportation staff, Community Cycles, TAB and concerned citizens, the team examined ways to improve bicycle safety and came up with a new preferred design and few alternatives. The catch was that each of these new designs required considerable additional funding and the city was operating on a short timeline to get the project underway in order to retain the original federal funding.
Because this design on North Broadway will be with us for decades to come, Community Cycles, TAB and many citizens convinced city council and staff that this project was important enough to find the extra money somewhere. And they did. Big thanks to the city manager’s office, city staff and city council – particularly council members Aaron Broicket and Bob Yates – for finding a way to make this project happen.
Here’s what we’ll be getting on North Broadway:
Raised (vertical separation from traffic from a curb) and buffered (extra distance between cars and bikes) for the entire distance from Violet to Lee Hill on both sides of the street;
A 10′ bi-directional multi use path on the west side of the street.
Transit stops that include benches and shelters
Thank you for your work to help make this happen. But it’s not over yet.
Both TAB and Community Cycles stressed that the speed limit on North Broadway should be 25 MPH, reduced from the current 30 MPH. In every community plan, this stretch of North Broadway is envisioned as a community center and main street, with commercial on both sides of the streets and community amenities like the North Boulder library, meaning there will be heavy bicycle and pedestrian usage. TAB and Community Cycles felt a 25 MPH speed limit is much more compatible with this land use. It will likely take additional action by Community Cycles to get the speed limit reduced. Stay tuned how you can help.
