Master Plan Development

Phase 3:  Identification and Evaluation of Preferred Alignment (Summer and Fall 2009) IN PROGRESS

The June Public Open House kicked off the third phase of the Lyons to Boulder Regional Trail Master Plan. Three proposed alternatives for the trail alignment were shown to the public.  Each alternative suggests a complete routing for the trail largely using a combination of public roads, the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD) feeder canal right-of-way, and public lands.

The master plan continues the third phase, which will further analyze the three alternative trail alignments to answer questions such as:

• What would be the approximate cost to build each one?

• How many properties would be impacted by each alignment and what is the nature of those impacts?

• What are the key safety, environmental, and management issues that would need to be addressed for each alignment?

By answering questions such as these, the planning team will be able to further compare the three alternatives.  The master plan can then recommend a trail alignment that best meets the project purpose and addresses issues that have been discussed along the way through the public process.

Phase 2:  Identification and Analysis of Alternative Alignments (Winter and Spring 2009) COMPLETE

The Lyons to Boulder Regional Trail planning team began the second phase of the master plan study in February 2009, after the January Public Open House.  Several field studies were performed throughout the winter and early spring to identify nearly 60 potential options for the location of the trail. 

 

During this phase, the team gathered information from the public, Northern Water, city of Boulder and from trips in the field to identify nearly 60 trail-segments within the trail corridor.  These segments utilized open space parcels, road right-of-way, canal right-of-way, and private property parcels.  The set of trail segment options includes the public suggested trail options generated by participants at the January Open House. Each of the trail segments were preliminarily evaluated on factors such as multi-use opportunities, alignment design, trail location, wetland areas, wildlife habitats and migration patterns, threatened and endangered species, house proximity, trail visibility, agricultural operations, Northern Water concerns, city of Boulder concerns, connections to other trails and community access.

Check out Phase Two's Trail Segment Options:   Overall Key Map Section 1:  Boulder Reservoir to Niwot Rd. Section 2:  Niwot Road to Oxford Road Section 3:  Oxford Road to Prospect Road Section 4:  Prospect Road to Nelson Road Section 5:  Nelson Road to St. Vrain Road Section 6:  St. Vrain Road to Hygiene Road Section 7:  Hygiene Road to Hwy. 66 All Maps Each of the above-referenced map-sections indicates the origins of each segment option. Dashed Lines - represent public ideas from January 2009 Public Open House. Solid Lines - represent general public lands options proposed by planning team and involve canal, road right-of-way, or public lands. Dash-Dot Lines - represent general private lands options proposed by planning team and involve private lands for access to other lands. (Does not imply owner endorsement.)

These factors are just a taste of the overall umbrella of user experience, safety, environmental impacts, private landowner impacts, public landowner impacts, connectivity, and cost.

Phase 1: Project Initiation (Fall 2008 and Winter 2009) COMPLETE

The first phase of the Lyons to Boulder Regional Trail master plan process kicked off in November of 2008.  It entailed notifying the public of the upcoming master planning process in November and gathering preliminary information about the trail corridor for the January 2009 Open House, which marked end of the first phase. 

The governing doctrine of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, and subsequent support over the years, designated that a trail connecting the city of Boulder to the Town of Lyons should follow the Boulder Feeder Canal.  It was important to Boulder County to look at possible trail alignments other than adjacent to the feeder canal and therefore the corridor was expanded.  This requires a more extensive planning process than previously conducted studies.

Stay Involved

There are several ways to be involved in the development of the Master Plan:

• Fill out a comment form online.

• Send comments directly to us via email.

• Send comments directly to us via standard mail at Boulder County Transportation, Lyons to Boulder Regional Trail, PO Box 471, Boulder, CO 80306.

• Join our project mailing list by emailing LyonstoBoulder@bouldercounty.org or by calling us at (303) 441-3900.

• Call Julie McKay or Kristine Nelson at 303-441-3900 or email LyonstoBoulder@bouldercounty.org if your organization or neighborhood would like to meet to discuss the Lyons-to-Boulder Regional Trail.