Proposed Highway 119 bikeway enters preliminary design phase

Boulder County will conduct extensive field work as part of the preliminary design phase of the proposed bikeway connecting Longmont and Boulder along Highway 119.

The proposed bikeway design was initially presented to the community at a public meeting on Aug. 30. Since then, Boulder County has received more than 1,000 survey responses and 45 comments, in addition to the questions and comments from attendees of the meeting.

The estimated timeline for the project has a preliminary design being completed by spring 2022, followed by a developed final design in summer 2022 and a finalized design in spring 2023. Each design phase will be followed by a period for public comment with first construction slated for some time in 2024, pending funding that has yet to be secured.

Project funding is broken up into two parts - design and construction. The design is expected to cost approximately $2.5 million, with the conceptual plan funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the preliminary and final design being fully funded by the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG). Construction is estimated to cost $30 to 35 million, and the county is still looking to secure this funding.

The preliminary design phase will take the project's Design Validation Memo and translate it into a real-world application based on existing Highway 119 infrastructure. This includes an in-depth study of the constraints and design issues to help determine the optimal layout for the proposed bike path. Initial fieldwork includes:

• Mapping utilities, trees, culverts, and irrigation ditches to show what needs to be moved, redesigned, or worked around
• Conducting surveys of threatened or endangered wildlife species that may live or migrate through the project area
• Noxious weed inventory
• Marking any hazardous materials in the corridor
• Mapping historic resourcesSoil sampling and groundwater measurements to ensure the bikeway won't sink or buckle and that underpasses won't flood
• Traffic study to design safe at-grade crossings with features such as bicycle detection and rapid flashing beacons and pedestrian medians

All of the gathered information will be utilized to create a more detailed alignment for the bikeway. The county currently estimates having the work completed in April 2022 at which point the community will again be asked for feedback, ideas, and questions.

Boulder County is also working with CDOT, RTD, the Cities of Boulder and Longmont, and Commuting Solutions on the project. The bikeway is just one piece of a larger mobility project based on an earlier 2019 Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) report. The report identified a multi-modal corridor vision for Highway 119, which also includes items such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and intersection improvements.

The initial design lays out plans for a concrete surface path. The bikeway width will vary along the corridor with a typical width of 12 feet with wider widths in high activity areas. In most places, the bikeway is indicated to run between the divided highway of Highway 119 with underpasses or marked crossings at all major intersections.

The conceptual renderings of the proposed bikeway at the Niwot Road intersection indicate the construction of an underpass as well as a crossing to reach the Niwot Road BRT station which, in the designs, features an expanded parking lot. No direct connection point is indicated between the bikeway and downtown Niwot or the Niwot trail systems in this preliminary drawing.

The proposed bike path is intended to serve as a vital commuter connection between Longmont and Boulder on a transportation corridor that, according to county staff, sees nearly 40,000 people daily. The hope of local supporters is that the path will encourage and enable more people to commute by bike.

For commuters who might have already been cycling to work, the bike path will provide a more direct route as opposed to the soft-surface LoBo Trail, which also runs between Longmont and Boulder. The Highway 119 bike path will offer key connections to public transit as well as receive some additional year-round maintenance such as snow and ice removal that the Lobo Trail does not receive.

For additional information or to submit a question or comment, visit the Boulder County project website.