Learn more about each project below:
There are two related projects in the area. Projects will help mitigate potential future flooding and improve multimodal travel connections
The 19th Street and Fourmile Canyon Creek Underpass project, part of a larger Fourmile Canyon Creek Flood Mitigation project, will build a bicycle and pedestrian underpass and help provide additional flood capacity in the future.
The 19th Street Multimodal Improvements project will help improve travel connections between Norwood and Sumac avenues.
2017-2019
2020-2022
2023-2024
Learn more about each project below:
Along with flood mitigation, the 19th Street and Fourmile Canyon Creek Underpass project will improve travel on 19th Street, an important multimodal connection in north Boulder. The city will construct a new bicycle and pedestrian underpass connecting Tamarack and Upland avenues; replace and widen the 19th Street bridge over Fourmile Canyon Creek; improve transit stops; upgrade the on-street bikeable shoulder to a buffered bike lane; construct a new sidewalk; and install curb and gutter.
Construction impacts may change. For updates, view the city's Cone Zones map. Major construction is anticipated to begin in March 2024, and will last approximately two years. View the detour map.
Travelers can expect long-term traffic impacts due to lane closures on 19th Street between Sumac and Upland avenues, anticipated to last for two years beginning on March 25, 2024:
— The northbound lane is anticipated to close to travel starting from Monday, March 25.
— Both the northbound and southbound lanes are anticipated to close to travel from 8 a.m. on Friday, March 29 through 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 30.
— While the southbound lane is anticipated to reopen to travel after 5 p.m. on March 30, the northbound lane will remain closed to travel for the duration of the project.
Along with flood mitigation, this project will improve travel on 19th Street, an important multimodal connection in north Boulder. The city will construct a new bicycle and pedestrian underpass connecting Tamarack and Upland avenues; replace and widen the 19th Street bridge over Fourmile Canyon Creek; improve transit stops; upgrade the on-street bikeable shoulder to a buffered bike lane; construct a new sidewalk; and install curb and gutter.
View the city’s Cone Zones map for updates on construction and travel impacts.
19th Street from Norwood to Sumac avenues is an important multimodal travel corridor in north Boulder. This project will help improve connections for all travel modes by constructing a new sidewalk and completing missing sidewalk links, upgrading the on-street bike facility to a buffered bike lane, enhancing transit stops, installing curb and gutter, and installing speed cushions, which are similar to speed bumps.
Construction on this project is anticipated to begin in late spring or early summer 2024.
From Norwood Avenue to Sumac Avenue on both the east and west sides of 19th Street, the 19th Street Multimodal Project will:
From Sumac Avenue to Yarmouth Avenue:
As part of a separate effort, in coordination with city staff, Xcel completed undergrounding of Xcel overhead utilities from Norwood to Upland avenues.
19th Street from Norwood to Sumac avenues is an important multimodal travel corridor in north Boulder. Currently, there is an on-street bikeable shoulder and an existing sidewalk on the east side. These were constructed in the 1990s, but the sidewalk does not meet current city design standards. The on-street bikeable shoulder ends at Violet Avenue and is then a designated bike route from Violet Avenue north to Yarmouth Avenue. On the west side of 19th Street, the sidewalk is not continuous from Yarmouth to Norwood avenues.
19th Street from Norwood to Yarmouth avenues has been given a high priority on the city's Missing Sidewalk Links program. The Missing Sidewalk Links program identifies, prioritizes and constructs missing sidewalk segments to provide a continuous pedestrian network and ensure a safe walking environment.
In 2014, the city submitted an application for federal funding to construct a 5-foot-wide sidewalk, install curb and gutter on the east side and complete the missing sidewalk links on the west side of this corridor. The project received funding from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) and the Federal Highway Administration's Safe Routes to School grant program for the estimated project costs.
The city is also planning improvements along Fourmile Canyon Creek to improve safety and accessibility to Crest View Elementary School by completing an underpass at 19th Street and Fourmile Canyon Creek. Learn more on the Fourmile Canyon Creek webpage. The two project teams are coordinating efforts.
Further exploration of the Wonderland Creek floodplain was conducted from late fall 2018 through summer 2019 to understand expectations for achieving the floodplain development permit requirements. Two additional alternatives were included in the project's Community and Environmental Assessment Process (CEAP) to meet the identified facility type for 19th Street through the Low-Stress Walk and Bike Network Plan and to address Transportation Advisory Board feedback provided in August 2018. All design alternatives also now incorporate the features needed to meet floodplain mitigation requirements.
On Nov. 21, 2019, the project team hosted an open house, with 78 people in attendance, to share the five conceptual design alternatives being considered for the project and asked for the community’s feedback on a preferred alternative and reasons for that preference. There was a comment form available at the open house and online The goal was to learn which option was preferred so we can balance the needs of the community and meet the goals of the Transportation Master Plan. Your input was utilized as a final concept is selected.
Thanks to all who provided their input on the 19th Street Multimodal Improvement Project! We received a total of 58 completed comment forms. Whether you completed it at the open house on November 21, or provided it online, we appreciate your feedback.
Both the meeting comment forms and the online comment forms expressed a preference for Alternative 4 which includes a combination of attached and detached sidewalks and buffered bike lanes.
During the city's annual capital improvements budgeting process, an interdepartmental team identified the 19th Street project to utilize the city’s Community and Environmental Assessment Process (CEAP). The CEAP is a formal review process to consider the impacts of public development projects. The purpose of the CEAP is to assess potential impacts of conceptual project alternatives in order to inform the selection and refinement of a recommended conceptual design alternative. The CEAP provides the opportunity to balance multiple community goals in the design of a capital project by assessing a project against the policies outlined in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, the Transportation Master Plan, departmental master plans, and sub-community or area plans (if applicable). The CEAP also ensures that environmental, social and fiscal impacts of projects are minimized and assures compliance with city policies, plans and regulations.
The final CEAP for the 19th Street project was reviewed and provided official recommendation by the City of Boulder CEAP Review Group, the city's Transportation Advisory Board and City Council.