Commissioners approve adding bikeway design funding for underpass into Niwot

The Niwot Business Association (NBA) and Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) Advisory Committee have been hard at work to convince Boulder County and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to add an underpass into Niwot as part of the Colorado Highway 119 Safety and Mobility Improvements Project and Bikeway Project.

County funding for the underpass design has now been approved.

Scott Firle, chairperson of the LID, said, "[The LID effort] started about two years ago when we had our strategic plan retreat." Praising the wide range of interests among the members of the LID, Firle said that they wanted the LID to "be more of an advocate for the town" with the County. "We wanted to make sure that Niwot is not left out of conversations," Firle said. The LID created a subcommittee under the leadership of vice chairperson Eric Bergeson.

Bergeson, who is also the president of the NBA, described the response to the CO 119 project design for the intersection of CO 119 and Niwot Road. "Some community leaders in town started looking at it...A lot of concerns started being raised...in the backdrop of very serious accidents," Bergeson said. "Our conclusion was that [the design] is more dangerous than it is now."

Bergeson said, "We realized how fast the CO 119 Bikeway Project was moving and that was the impetus that got us going with the intersection." The LID quickly switched from developing a strategic plan to focusing on safety at the intersection.

The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) invited ideas. "The County did a great job seeking feedback," Bergeson said. Similarly, Firle said, "The county did a great job of getting out in front of communities. This is how it should work."

The LID decided to contract with a local architectural firm, Fletemeyer & Lee Associates, to develop conceptual designs for an underpass to safely take people between Niwot and the bikeway and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station that is planned in the median as part of the overall CO 119 project.

The firm developed two options for the underpass. Both would go under the northbound lanes of CO 119. One plan would also take the underpass under the railroad and the other would not. The design going under the railroad would emerge close to 1st Avenue near Whistle Stop Park, while the other option would lead to the at-grade railroad crossing at 2nd Avenue.

The LID prefers the option that would go under the railroad tracks, but Firle said, "[It] would have required BNSF approval which would have extended the time to get something done in this phase."

During their annual meeting with the BOCC, Bergeson presented the plan along with the statistics on the dangers of the intersection. Bergeson said about the meeting, "That was the key moment to express our concern directly with the commissioners and I think they heard us and we really appreciated it." The issue was also discussed at the 1041 location and extent review hearing, first before the planning commission, and later before the board of county commissioners.

A couple of weeks ago the commissioners acted upon what they had heard. Stacey Proctor, Boulder County's project coordinator for the bikeway, said, "The Board of County Commissioners approved adding funding to our design consultant's contract to do preliminary design for the underpass. We are hoping to complete the preliminary design this year. After that, we would move forward with final design next year."

Funding the design is a big step forward even though construction of the project is not yet fully funded. Proctor added, "We will be working with CDOT's contractor to identify potential cost-saving innovations for the CO 119 Safety and Mobility and Bikeway Projects. Any cost-savings will go back into the project and could potentially fund the Niwot underpass."