The Boulder City Council on Thursday, Sept. 19, opted not to call up a proposed redesign for Iris Avenue, allowing the street safety project to move forward to the final design and construction phase.
The estimated $5 million plan would reduce Iris Avenue from four lanes to three, including a center turning lane. It also adds a 10-foot-wide, two-way bike lane on the north side of the street from Folsom to Broadway, separated from traffic by a vertical barrier, such as a tall concrete curb.
The project is part of a broader effort to make city streets safer for cyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. Transportation advocates have long supported adding a protected bike lane on Iris, where currently only a painted line separates cyclists from vehicles. The council has prioritized making the city’s core arterial network — the busiest streets where most crashes occur — safer for non-vehicle travelers.
Only one city councilmember, Mark Wallach, sought to call up the project, so the design proceeded without a vote. Otherwise, a public hearing and formal vote would have been required.
“People continue to die and be maimed in our streets,” Councilmember Ryan Schuchard said. “Every week we wait is another week people are bearing unnecessary risks.”
Critics of the project raised concerns about traffic congestion and drivers cutting through side streets, among other issues. City transportation officials estimate average travel times will increase by 3 to 46 seconds on the stretch between Folsom and Broadway. Officials also plan to install traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps, on nearby side streets.
The developing intensity of use of this corridor will quickly require it’s widening. It is being fed far too much for any diet. NOBO suburb, the Diagonal, National Geographic, Mckensie Jct., Hyundai, Spark, Bluff, and those are just the direct apartment developments and cars at the trough.
What was the vote on this? This city council doesn’t care about citizens only their own agenda. Plus the ped/auto accidents aren’t happening at Iris and Broadway.
Is Iris a public street ?? IF so what gives the city the right to make part of it a bike path avable only to bike traffic only
Are you not thinking about snow plows’ and winter time in Boulder
This will make Bolder unlivable with heaver traffic
If you want bike paths make them on city land not on public roads
I guess since the Iris Avenue project will make Boulder “unlivable”, people will start to move away. That should relieve any of the concerns over congestion on Iris…maybe it will even help with housing!
Unfortunately I’m no longer surprised by the uproar this ~1.3 mile project continues to cause, despite estimates that it will only increase vehicle travel times by less than one minute. The only place I ever see real traffic is 36 WB in the morning and 36 EB in the afternoon. Folks that think there is real traffic inside Boulder just seem out of touch; maybe a little too much time in the bubble.
Agree with Janet. This smells like the Folsom “right-sizing” project (https://www.westword.com/news/boulder-scraps-protected-bike-lanes-on-folsom-because-drivers-hate-them-7197463). Rush hour will be terrible, I expect more road rage.
Right, Ken. As Matt Benjamin, one of our City Council members going for re-election this November says, CAN (the “right-sizing” of all the arterials in town) is “the culture” of the transportation department now. I’m not sure what that means.
Remember the city’s study? Daily traffic on Iris: 20,000 cars and 30 bikes. Huh?
The city’s ongoing “war” on cars is not one they can win. People will not be engineered out of driving vehicles. Traffic volume will continue to increase in lock step with population growth and continued efforts to make driving unpleasant for automobile users will only result in frustration and aggressive behavior, the very thing that causes conflicts with other road users. What’s next, should 28th Street be reduced in size? How about Canyon? Why not Foothills Parkway too?
Is Folsom unbearable now? I find it more pleasant to drive on then before but I don’t need to use it during rush hour.
Troy – My sentiments exactly.
I hope the Boulder Reporting Lab will report on whether the city succeeds or fails at making this bike path as safe and accessible as they claim it will be.
I foresee a lot of problems for people like me who DO want a safe and protected bike lane they can use year-round.
If the city decides to cut costs by failing to provide an adequate multi-use width sidewalk on the south side (that is losing direct access to a bike lane with these changes) – I hope you will assist in holding them accountable.
And if the two-way aspect of this bike lane results in safety hazards to cyclists, I hope someone will say “fix this”. Personally I don’t see this design being as safe as they claim it will be – and what then?
I’ve wanted protected bike lanes for over a decade, and a road-diet is a long time coming for Iris. The current design is well-suited to speeding. But change needs to be beneficial, and if it isn’t – we can’t just say “too late now”.
The proposed Iris Avenue Development will be a nightmare. I bike this area almost daily and there are enough alternative bike routes so that there is no need to bike on Iris; I would never risk my life biking on Iris. I drive on Iris daily; the Iris and Broadway intersection is already maxed out; this proposal would make it almost impassable. Few people walk on Iris sidewalks which are often in poor repair.
There are numerous small inexpensive projects that would greatly improve east-west bike/ped access, without tearing up Iris Ave.. Improve and widen the sidewalks on Iris. Enforce the speed limit. Improve the several existing alternative east-west bikeways parallel to Iris with better signage, better paving on sideroads and fix the bottlenecks.
The proposed Iris Avenue Development plan is ridiculous; very few Boulderites want it; we can’t afford it; it would be an expensive step backwards. Just cancel it.