Rumble strips to be installed on Diagonal Highway

Boulder County announced that the first phase of the safety improvements on Colorado Highway 119, also known as the Diagonal Highway, will begin on Nov. 1. Rumble strips will be installed on the outside of the shoulder line from approximately Hover Street in Longmont to Foothills Parkway in Boulder.

According to a press release, "Rumble strips provide an audible and vibration warning to drivers who may be leaving the roadway. The strips will be installed along the edge line of the outside shoulder throughout the corridor where there is adequate space for them to be installed and still allow for cyclists to utilize the shoulders. Rumble strips will not be put in place within 250 feet of any residence or business."

As noted by several speakers in Niwot at the ceremony celebrating a $25M federal highway grant award, rumble strips may have prevented the death of world-class teenage cyclist Magnus White last summer. White died while riding his bicycle on the Diagonal just south of the 63rd Street intersection when a driver crossed into the shoulder and ran into him.

Rumble strips not only alert a driver when their vehicle is crossing onto the shoulder, but also provide an audible warning to cyclists that a vehicle behind them is crossing onto the shoulder.

The overall project is expected to take 10 working days to complete, and will begin with the rumble strips, which are expected to be completely installed by Nov. 3. The machining of the rumble strips will be done during the daytime from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., utilizing a slow-moving single-lane closure. Traffic delays can be expected on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3.

For those two days, bicyclists are strongly encouraged to avoid the Diagonal because the right lane and the shoulder will be blocked and impassable.

The press release also said, "After the strips are in place, the project will add safety signage at intersections to alert drivers to bicyclists in the area. This work is expected to take place Nov. 13-16 and will have sporadic lane and shoulder closures. Bicyclists are strongly encouraged to find new routes during this time as well."

The next phase of work on the larger aspects of the Highway 119 Safety and Mobility Improvements and Bikeway Project will begin next spring.

According to Boulder County, by 2040, the Diagonal Highway is expected to see a 25% increase in vehicular traffic, resulting in more congestion, delays, emissions, and potentially more crashes.

The county believes that the CO 119 Safety & Mobility Improvements and Bikeway Project will "make traveling through the corridor safer for all modes, as well as faster and more reliable for public transit. It will provide critical intersection safety improvements, construct a regional bikeway, and implement Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), connecting the counties of Larimer, Weld and Boulder."