Boulder County moves ahead on double underpass option

Following a review of survey results and responses at a community meeting in Niwot Dec. 2, the Boulder County Commissioners on Dec. 16 instructed county staff to obtain cost estimates for the Option 4 design of an underpass into Niwot from the bikeway under construction in the median of CO 119, also known as the Diagonal Highway.

Mark Ruzzin, Boulder County liaison to the LID, wrote in an email, “At the Monday meeting, the commissioners directed Community Planning & Permitting staff to ask the county’s engineering firm (Muller) for an estimate of the cost to complete the preliminary and final design of the NLIDAC’s underpass alternative proposal [Option 4]. Once the cost estimate is received, the commissioners will hold further discussions about next steps.”

Prior to the Dec. 2 meeting, county staff had decided that Option 3a was the preferred design for an underpass into Niwot, citing a slim majority of responses obtained at a community meeting in Niwot last fall. But Niwot community leaders, working with Master Plan consultants Fletemeyer & Lee Associates (FLA), felt that the underpass should extend under both the Diagonal Highway and the Burlington Northern railroad tracks to provide access to Niwot. FLA then came up with Option 4, which provided more direct access from the Park-n-Ride as well as crossing under both the Diagonal and the railroad tracks, exiting at Whistle Stop Park and First Avenue.

Option 3a showed a perpendicular underpass from the bikeway/pedestrian path in the median of the Diagonal, passing under the Longmont-bound lanes of CO 119 and exiting on Second Avenue, with bikers and pedestrians crossing into Niwot over the railroad tracks at grade level. When evaluating Option 4, county staff cited difficulties in working with Burlington Northern Railroad regarding other underpasses, resulting in many years of negotiations and delays.

But members of the Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee (LID), led by chair Scott Firle, and Niwot Business Association members, led by president Eric Bergeson, worked with Niwot Master Plan consultants Fletemeyer & Lee Associates (FLA) to get in touch with railroad representatives regarding crossing the railroad tracks. Chad Fletemeyer and Dave Lee reported at the Dec. 2 meeting, attended by county commissioner Claire Levy, that the railroad actually preferred access going under the railroad tracks rather than over the tracks.

Surveys of Niwot residents and business owners at the Dec. 2 meeting and thereafter indicated overwhelming support for Option 4. The LID and the Niwot Community Association (NCA) forwarded the results of the surveys to Boulder County, and the commissioners agreed to direct county staff to obtain cost estimates for Option 4.

The survey results can be found at “Surveys say Option 4 is the preferred underpass from bikeway to Niwot” in this edition of the Left Hand Valley Courier.