Road Warriors: Volunteer crew handles traffic during Niwot events

Behind any community event in Niwot, there is an unsung army of volunteers, handling details and logistics that most attendees overlook. Among them is the Niwot road crew, a group that has been dedicated to keeping the town's parades and festivals pedestrian-friendly since 2014.

"We started with seven, and it blossomed from there," Dick Piland said of the group he founded as Niwot Community Association president nearly a decade ago. "It was amazing. We had people calling up insisting they get to be on the road crew."

The crew is currently up to 20 active members, and its mission is straightforward: barring vehicular traffic from downtown Niwot during events such as the 4th of July parade, National Night Out, and the Honey Bee Harvest Festival, just to name a few. According to David Limbach, the NCA's current president and coordinator of the group, it's not a complicated job, but there is more to it than just setting up a few signs. It can take dozens of volunteer hours to close the streets for a day-long event, even for short distances.

"Back in 2012, Boulder County [special] events issued a policy that applied for whenever a road was closed, and it applied to everybody across the board," Limbach said. "It doesn't matter if you're closing Highway 36 for the USA Pro Cycling tour, or closing two blocks of Niwot's 2nd Avenue. It's this 60 some odd page booklet of rules and regulations."

Initially, the NCA and other community organizations planned to hire contractors to oversee traffic flow at events, but after Piland received a bill that "raised eyebrows" following the 35th annual Nostalgia Days celebration in 2013, he decided to look local.

"It cost about $3,800 just to lease all of the equipment and all of the signs," he said. "So we either had to give up parades, or figure out another solution. So I thought, why don't we just get our own, and we'll get volunteers to display it."

The price tag for a professional traffic plan and the equipment to implement it came in at around $7,000, meaning it would pay for itself after just two events. So Piland and the NCA pledged $2,000 to the project, and did some crowdfunding around town. Ultimately, they received $500 contributions from the Niwot Business Association, the Niwot Cultural Arts Association, the Rotary Club of Niwot, the Niwot High School Education Foundation, and the Left Hand Grange, with the Niwot Local Improvement District funding the balance.

"It's all volunteer money from non-profit organizations," Piland said. "I don't see one commercial donation on this whole list."

Perhaps most importantly, the Grange also donated space in its former fire station building to store the signs and barricades, a contribution that both Piland and Limbach singled out as crucial.

"The Grange gave us the northeast corner of the firehouse for no charge into perpetuity to store all this equipment, and that can't be overstated," Limbach said. "Having it centrally located so that it's already down there is huge, and they have to be remembered as part of this equation."

The road crew and signs debuted at the 2014 Niwot 4th of July parade with seven members: Piland, Limbach, Jim Jones, Tom Sesnic, Aidan Sesnic, Johnny Barrett, and Duncan Barrett. It was also the debut of "Hauley," a trailer donated by Barrett, and the "only lady in the group," Piland jokes.

From those humble beginnings, membership in the crew has nearly tripled, and demand for traffic services in Niwot is on the rise.

"Each event takes about 12 to 14 people to do nicely," Limbach said. "An event that just closes down 2nd Avenue is relatively easy. It's when we have to close Niwot Road that it gets complicated, and we have to have more people present to act as marshals at the high traffic areas and at every road closure point."

Traffic control duties can begin more than a week before the closure, when two to four notification signs are posted to let passing motorists know that they may need to plan an alternate route. On the day of the closure, the road crew meets at the firehouse 90 minutes ahead of time to load Hauley with signs and barrels. It then takes the crew about 45 minutes to distribute everything at intersections, giving them a bit of downtime before manning the barricades.

"We have to get it done somewhat early-earlier than you would think-just because people start to show up early," Limbach said.

At least one road crew member is stationed at each of the closure points for the entirety of the event, keeping an eye out for approaching cars. During this time, the group is in continual contact with each other, as well as Boulder County deputies on scene.

After the event is over, crowds can mill in the street for up to an hour, especially if the weather is nice, meaning the barricades and signs remain in place. Once the deputies give the all clear, the crew reverses its pre-event circuit, using Hauley to collect the signs and barricades and take them back to their permanent home in the firehouse. In all, the group maintains and stores nearly 100 pieces of traffic control equipment, including two dozen freestanding signs, 35-40 pylons, and 12 large barrels, making Barrett's contribution another crucial piece of the puzzle, according to Piland.

"The major players are the Grange and Johnny Barrett," he said. "If we didn't have a trailer, I wouldn't have a crew, because we'd be carrying that stuff on our back."

The Barrett family, Duncan in particular, also helped the NCA find a local source for occasional repairs to the signs-student welders at St. Vrain Valley School's career development center.

For both Piland and Limbach, the Niwot road crew's most memorable day so far came in 2017, when Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, a former Gunbarrel resident, served as grand marshal for the 4th of July parade, adding another level of difficulty, not to mention excitement, to their usual routine.

"During the event itself, there was a much larger sheriff's presence, and the U.S. Marshal Service was there," Limbach said, adding that there was also a large media presence, and a larger crowd of spectators than usual. "There was an exit route planned in case anything happened, and they told us not to share the information, but the road crew had to know, so we could move equipment out of the way if they had to make a speedy departure."

Road crew duties are over in Niwot for 2021, but Limbach and his group will be back in action for NCA clean-up day and other events in the spring of 2022. The group is always in need of new volunteers, as the number and frequency of Niwot events continues to grow.

"To be clear, the road crew consists primarily of people on the NCA board, but it's not really an NCA thing," Limbach said. "Anybody's welcome. When we are 'contracted out' by other groups, like the NBA or NCAA, I would love to have volunteers from those organizations."

For Piland, the crew has become not just an indispensable part of town events, but has come to symbolize the values that make Niwot a special place to begin with.

"That's the whole reason we're out there, in my opinion, to protect the participants in the parade, and of course, the crowd that's enjoying the festivities," he said. "We all have high morale, and we're always looking forward to the next parade. It's a great group, we all get along well, and everybody gets the job done."