Road pain for long term gain

Many Niwot and Gunbarrel residents have been faced with the Rubik's Cube of road impacts and closures associated with the ongoing CO 119 Safety, Mobility and Bikeway Project being done by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in parallel with ongoing Boulder County and City of Boulder Public Works projects. The combination of projects occasionally shuts down intersecting roads that could normally be used to get around the CO 119 bottleneck.

It seems unclear who or what entity is coordinating the projects and their impact on residents. All the stakeholders, CDOT, RTD, Boulder County and The City of Boulder, seem to be working independently of one another while the public is left to sort out what new road closure they may be presented with on a daily basis, and how much of a delay they can expect.

According to existing traffic data reported on CDOT's website (CDOT Monarch Road Closure Explanation), 23 broadside crashes have occurred at Monarch Road on the southbound side of CO 119 and three crashes have occurred on the northbound side.

This number is reportedly much greater than other similar intersections statewide and has led CDOT to decide to close the intersection at Monarch Road and Co 119. Work on this closure will start at the beginning of 2025. CO 119 will be accessible from a right turn only at Monarch Road on either side. (See diagram accompanying this article for CDOT's proposed improvements and changes to this location).

In addition to the ongoing work in and along CO 119, additional projects affecting locals include:

63rd Street from Jay Road to CO 119 for the City of Boulder's 63rd Street Waterline Replacement Project

63rd Street from CO 119 to Twin Lakes Road will be impacted with closures and detours until fall 2025. Lookout Road is currently closed at its intersection with 63rd Street which means a detour south on 63rd Street to Spine Road.

Additionally, signs have been posted that the intersection at 63rd Street and Jay Road is soon to close.The four-lane road on 63rd Street between Jay Road and CO 119 has been reduced to two lanes with many cones and lane diversions.

This project is slated to finish in the fall of 2025. The benefit to the public is a modern pipeline that will provide more easily maintained waterlines to improve water distribution resilience. According to the city's website, "One of the new waterlines will also be twice as large as the previous waterline, helping meet increased demand for drinking water serving the Gunbarrel community."

95th Street from Valmont to Lookout Road for Boulder County Public Works Department's North 95th Street Reconstruction and Flood Resiliency Improvement Project

This project is a huge flood resiliency undertaking to prevent Boulder Creek and man-made ponds overtopping 95th Street during flood conditions. Currently 95th Street is closed between Lookout Road and Valmont Road during the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be open fully beginning Jan. 1, 2025 with work continuing until March of 2025.

Jay Road and 75th Street for the City of Boulder's Main Sewer Improvements Project

A three part project was begun in 2023 to address a highly degraded sewer line in the areas of 75th Street and Jay Road toward the Boulder Water Resource Recovery Facility. The first part of the project addressed the most degraded portion of the pipeline with installation of a liner in the pipe. That portion is complete.

The second phase, which has just begun, will remove the pipeline away from the creek and replace an inverted siphon.

This second phase will result in some lane closures along Valmont Road from Butte Mill Road to 61st Street with closures on Jay Road west of 75th Street. The time estimate for completion has not been provided.

The third phase which is slated to begin in 2029 will rehabilitate the remaining line from 61st Street to the Boulder Water Resource Recovery Facility.

Other rolling and unannounced work, including that on Valmont Road, has been related to road paving or patching operations.

Jared Fiel, a Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Communications Manager addressing the issue of apparent lack of project coordination and timing between the entities and projects, said, "CDOT is only responsible for Colorado highways. It is Boulder City and County who are responsible for the other roadwork in the area."

Fiel offered a Boulder County press release dated December 6, 2024 that states all "Project Teams [are] Coordinating to Minimize Impacts, Travel Delays on and Near Colorado Highway 119/Diagonal Highway."

The press release also provides the name of the project managers for each of these projects.

When contacted, Alexandra Phillips, Boulder County Transportation Planner, explained that there are many factors that affect the county's ability to predict and communicate road impacts.

She pointed to factors such as availability of project funding dollars, contractor and materials availability, weather, and project demands which are all difficult to predict. Phillips said that the most reliable source for information about weekly road impacts is the CDOT Project Newsletters section of its website. She encouraged members of the public to subscribe to get these updates sent to their inboxes in a timely fashion.

For road impacts that are not related to the CO 119 Project, it may also be useful to reference routing apps such as WAZE and Google Maps, though they may not be 100% accurate. The City of Boulder "Construction and Travel Impacts" website addresses "Cone Zones."

Phillips said there has been coordination between projects and cited the Dec. 6, 2024, Boulder County press release also referenced by Fiel.

Phillips also said that the public focus on the bikeway portion of the CO 119 Bikeway Project missed a bigger issue. "This project began ten years ago...to address needed changes for safety for all travelers which includes car, bus and bike riders," she said. "It is above all a safety project....

"The Project outcomes will be transformational for the county residents. Mobility upgrades such as the addition of the Park-n-Ride at 63rd Street and the improvement of the Park-n-Ride at Niwot Road means that buses will have their own jump lanes to get ahead of traffic with better signal use and subsequent increased reliability. Bike riders will have a continuous additional 9-mile lane separate and safe from traffic."

She said that the Bikeway Project is designed to result in less traffic and congestion ease in the main lanes with an associated decrease in dangerous greenhouse gases.

Weekly updates are published on the CDOT website.