LoBo: IBM
Connector Trail
The IBM Connector Trail is a proposed
multi-use Regional Trail that will connect the Gunbarrel community to
the city of Boulder parks and trails system. This connection will
serve as one of the key links from the Longmont to Boulder (LoBo)
Regional Trail to the city of Boulder. The trail will connect to
the existing Cottontail Trail on the east side of SH119 (Diagonal
Highway) to the existing Boulder Reservoir Trail System and Tom Watson
Park on the west side of SH119 (Diagonal Highway).
Funding for the trail planning and construction is
from the
countywide transportation sales tax passed by voters in 2001, and
through the Longmont-to-Boulder Trail Connections project for which
Boulder County will receive federal funding in 2009.
 In August 2008, the city of Boulder completed the
IBM Trail Connector Community and Environmental Process (CEAP) Report.
This report was a culmination of public involvement and environmental
resource evaluation that shaped the preferred trail alignment.
Beginning at Cottontail Trail, the trail immediately
crosses over the Whiterock Ditch via a bridge before traversing over the
City's Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) property. As currently
planned, the trail will go under the BNSF railroad at the existing
railroad trestle. It will then continue under SH119 utilizing two
existing box-culverts. The trail continues through property
jointly owned by IBM and OSMP before reaching N. 63rd Street, south of
Tom Watson Park. An at-grade crossing will be constructed to tie
the IBM Connector Trail to the Boulder Reservoir trail system.
Once completed, the trail will be part of the city's
trail system, managed and maintained by the city to provide a multi-use
connection between the reservoir trails and the Gunbarrel community.
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