Boulder County approves underpass Option 3A instead of Option 2A endorsed by the Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee

Discussions have been underway since March between Boulder County Community Planning and Permitting and the Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee (LID) regarding the location and alignment of the proposed underpass linking the planned bikeway in the median of the Diagonal and the RTD park-n-ride parking lot with downtown Niwot.

The original plans for the bikeway did not include an underpass on the northbound lanes of the Diagonal Highway, but the LID and the Niwot Business Association convinced the Boulder County Commissioners to add the underground access to the plans, even though the underpass cost is still unfunded.

The LID hired local architectural firm Fletemeyer & Lee Associates to create a Master Plan for the Niwot community, and one of the first issues addressed was the lack of a safe access to Niwot from the planned Bikeway project. The LID formed a committee to address the issues with the county, and presented preliminary designs to the county, created by Dave Lee and Chad Fletemeyer. Scott Firle, chairman of the LID, responded to the county with a series of questions and concerns raised about the 3A option.

Firle's letter sent in early March to Boulder County took the position that Option 2A was a better choice due to several factors, including an entrance to the underpass which would be visible to potential users, a better direct connection to the locations where users want to go, and an underpass located further away from the northbound traffic on CO 119.

Option 2A shows the underpass located at the northeast corner of the existing water quality pond and south of the Niwot entrance sign, with visibility from the park-n-ride. Option 3A shows the underpass located south of 2nd Avenue and north of the Niwot sign's current location, with no visibility from the park-n-ride.

According to Firle, Boulder County never answered the March letter from the LID and did not address the concerns raised before making its decision..

On June 11, 2024, Boulder County emailed a letter to the LID detailing the county's decision to choose Option 3A over the modified Option 2 (2A), which the Niwot LID had recommended. Included with the letter was a memorandum by Muller Engineering Company dated March 21, 2024, detailing the evaluation criteria used in comparing the three options for the underpass.

Boulder County's letter stated, "While we understand it is not the preferred Option of the Niwot [LID], we believe Option 3A is the overall best alternative given the safety, cost, maintenance, and other factors. We believe this alternative will connect people from the commercial center of Niwot along 2nd Avenue with the CO 119 corridor." The letter, signed by Kathleen Bracke, Community Planning and Permitting Deputy Director, ends by thanking the Niwot LID for their collaboration and noting that there is currently no funding to construct the underpass.

The Muller Engineering Company memorandum includes an evaluation criteria table for Options 1, 2, and 3A. Several criteria were used to evaluate the three Options: safety, directness to CO 119 bikeway, directness to the bus station, distance to Whistle Stop Park, cost, water quality pond impacts, environmental clearance, compatibility with CDOT and RTD improvements, maintenance, and public input.

According to Muller Engineering Company's memorandum, the primary differentiators in making the Option 3A recommendation were based on safety, public input, which had the highest weighted average, maintenance, cost, and water quality pond impacts.

The primary safety concern involves the proximity of the sidewalk adjacent to the BNSF railroad tracks. In a zoom meeting between Boulder County representatives and the LID committee on July 10, county staff members said their concern is that pedestrians may illegally cross the railroad tracks to access Whistle Stop Park.

Maintenance was based on the length of the underpass and minimal retaining walls. Costs for Option 1 are projected to be $5.4M, Option 2 to be $5.1M, and Option 3A to be $4.4M. The water quality pond, designed as a full-spectrum detention basin, was reviewed for minimal impact on the detention basin.

Public input was based on Boulder County's outreach to the community. Government outreach refers to efforts made by governmental organizations to engage with the public, provide information, gather feedback, and involve citizens in decision-making processes. The ultimate goal of government outreach is to create a more informed, involved, and empowered citizenry, leading to better governance and stronger communities.

Outreach to the Niwot citizens consisted of a public meeting held in Niwot on December 13, 2023. Public comments were documented at the public meeting, and online public comments were received in early January. The public provided written and verbal comments on each option with the opportunity to vote for a preferred choice.

The results showed Option 3A as the most favored (19 respondents), followed closely by Option 2 (17 respondents), and then Option 1 (8 respondents). This outreach effort led Muller Engineering Company and Boulder County to use feedback from these 44 Niwot citizens to override input from the LID in their evaluation criteria. The current estimated population of Niwot, Colorado, is 4,306.

The LID is a board of nine community members appointed by the Boulder County Commissioners, representing the Niwot Business Association, the Niwot Community Association, Niwot residents and Niwot business owners, which makes funding recommendations to the commissioners with respect to sales tax revenue collected by the LID, and makes recommendations on other matters affecting the Niwot business district.

During the zoom meeting of July 10, the LID committee members expressed their frustration with the county's process, noting that their concerns were not addressed prior to the county's announced decision to select Option 3A.

Boulder County staff at the meeting, which included Bracke, Transportation Strategic Planning & Projects Manager Stacey Proctor, Regional Trails Manager Tonya Luebbert, Bike Planner Alexandra Phillips, expressed their wish to continue to work collaboratively with the LID.

The LID committee also noted that it intends to seek an underpass connection under the railroad tracks, which would alleviate the safety concern about people crossing the tracks. They also noted that Option 3A has pedestrians and bicyclists crossing the tracks at grade on 2nd Avenue.

The bikeway project is slated to begin construction in September. Since the underpass is not yet funded, the LID committee indicated that they intended to address the matter with the county commissioners at the annual meeting of the two groups.