According to a recent Camera story, there are plans to construct a bikeway as part of the expansion of US 36 to 6 lanes. Included in the plans is a bikeway designed to give commuters an alternative to jamming the highways, filling the air with pollutants, and cultivating the couch potato physique. According to the article, the plan was to build the bikeway 30' (10 yards, 1 1st down) off a major freeway. Something to be encouraged, right? Not for OSMP. That would be an unacceptable encrouchment on open space. They're insisting that the bikers ride on the shoulder and breath the fumes (with a concret barrier). How many people do you think would do that. Where does human quality of life fit in their priorities?
Boulder Daily Camera
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2006/dec/13/boulder-leaders-transit-officials-clash/
Boulder leaders, transit officials clash
Bike path through open space one point of contention
By Ryan Morgan (Contact)Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Boulder's elected leaders and officials planning traffic improvements for U.S. 36 clashed Tuesday night over bike paths and bus lanes.
The City Council met with Rick Pilgrim, project manager for the Environmental Impact Study along the U.S. 36 corridor, which is slated for more than $1 billion in improvements. A draft of the study — which will determine what gets built on the Turnpike once it's complete — is due to federal officials at the end of the month, and Boulder's leaders aren't happy with what it says.
The first bone of contention concerns a proposed bike path for commuters along U.S. 36. Pilgrim said an initial proposal to build a separate bike path 30 feet from U.S. 36 isn't feasible because it would run through sensitive Open Space and Mountain Parks parcels and wetlands.
That leaves two options, Pilgrim said. The path could run directly adjacent to the highway, separated from traffic by a maintenance wall. If that doesn't get approved, he said, another option would be to build on-street bike lanes on South Boulder and Cherryvale roads to take bicycle commuters around the sensitive areas.
Pilgrim said a third option, to upgrade an unpaved path that currently runs alongside South Boulder and Cherryvale roads, had been taken off the table. "After looking at this long and hard, and considering all of the details, our recommendation was to set that one aside, because it's clearly inferior," he said. But Boulder's open space and City Council officials disagreed.
"I don't know why we would do something different than take advantage of an already-existing bike path," said Mike Patton, the city's open space director. "From that standpoint, there would be very little environmental impact."
Mayor Mark Ruzzin said bicycle commuters would much prefer their own path than rubbing shoulders with traffic on a busy street like South Boulder Road. And he criticized Pilgrim and other planning officials for waiting to reveal the new options. "It leaves a bad taste in our mouths," Ruzzin said.
Council members said they're also unhappy that U.S. 36 planners are considering ending designated Bus Rapid Transit lanes at Cherryvale Road rather than at the Table Mesa Drive bus stop. City officials said the bus service depends on having its own dedicated lanes, and they worry about creating a bottleneck before the buses reach their destination.
"Clearly the idea is that we could have a very nice BRT system that works great, as long as you want to get off at Cherryvale," Ruzzin said.
Pilgrim said adding dedicated "flyover" lanes just for the buses would significantly increase the project's cost, and would only improve their travel time by 11/2 minutes, at most.
"We've not found that there is a problem with the bus leaving that lane and weaving over a lane and getting over," he said.
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