How we fought for Boulder County cyclists — and two commissioners made it happen.
On March 12, Boulder County Parks and Open Space closed a bridge on the Boulder Canyon Bike Path adjacent to Highway 119, leaving cyclists with no safe alternative but to ride on a winding, shoulderless canyon road with high-speed traffic. The closure stretched on without a detour and with limited notice to the cycling community, as county staff struggled to move on a resolution.
“This bridge was the last missing link in a safe, continuous route through Boulder Canyon. Closing it without an alternative recreated the exact conditions that cost a life more than thirty years ago.”
– Sue Prant, Executive Director, Community Cycles
The stakes here are not abstract. This bridge was built because a cyclist was killed on Highway 119 in 1991 while navigating the very gap the path was designed to close. It was the last missing link in a safe, continuous route through Boulder Canyon. Closing it without a viable alternative recreated the exact conditions that cost a life more than thirty years ago.
Community Cycles, with the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance as a partner in the fight, took up the cause on behalf of Boulder County’s thousands of everyday cyclists — commuters and recreational riders who depend on this route. We brought the urgency of the situation directly to our county commissioners and refused to let the issue stall. Two of them answered the call. Commissioners Ashley Stolzman and Claire Levy understood what was at stake, and made things happen.
The result
Twenty days after the closure — on April 2 — Boulder County Parks and Open Space completed a temporary repair. The bridge is expected to reopen for cyclists soon.
Responsive Government
Commissioners Stolzman and Levy demonstrated exactly what responsive local government looks like: they heard from constituents, grasped the urgency, and delivered. The cycling community owes them a genuine debt of gratitude, especially those that regularly ride the Boulder Canyon Bike Path for commuting and recreation. Community Cycles is proud to have been the voice that reached them.
We hope this experience leads to stronger county protocols for future infrastructure closures — including timely community notification and safe detour planning. But today, we simply say thank you to the commissioners who made this right, and to every cyclist who raised their voice alongside us.