The Transportation Advisory Board on June 9 recommended that Boulder City Council approve the Folsom Street Safety Improvements Project community and environmental assessment process (SEAP) and its recommended design, voting unanimously 4 to 0.
The board’s recommendation follows a multi‑year effort to apply Vision Zero and the city’s Core Arterial Network (CAN) priorities to Folsom Street from Pine Street to Colorado Avenue, a corridor the project team described as seeing heavy multimodal use and a history of crashes. Melanie Sloan, principal project manager in the city’s Transportation and Mobility Department, told the board the recommended design “repurposes space where feasible on this physically constrained corridor to provide safety and urban design improvements” while preserving business access and street trees.
The nut graf: City staff recommended a blended design (largely based on the project’s Alternative C) that adds on‑street protected bike lanes for most of the corridor, widens sidewalks, provides floating bus stops, preserves or replants 100% of existing street trees, and adds protected intersections and raised crossings at several high‑crash locations. The board’s affirmative recommendation sends the SEAP and recommended design to City Council, which is scheduled to review the item as a call‑up on Aug. 7; if called up, council will hold a public hearing on Aug. 21.
Most important facts first: City staff reported 218 crashes on Folsom Street between 2019 and 2023, averaging about one crash per week, with seven crashes resulting in serious injury and every serious‑injury crash involving a person walking or bicycling. Staff also presented intersection crash totals of 55 crashes at Canyon Boulevard and 54 at Arapahoe Avenue for the same period. Steven Riha, transportation planning manager, said the project advances the Vision Zero action plan by focusing on high‑risk corridors and implementing proven countermeasures such as protected bike lanes and protected intersections.
Key features of the recommended design include:
- On‑street protected bike lanes for most of the corridor, with a southbound sidewalk‑level (grade‑separated) bike lane in a constrained segment near Taft to address uphill/downhill speed differences and student travel needs.
- Protected intersections with corner refuge islands, leading pedestrian and bike intervals or dedicated bike signals at high‑turning movements, and added right‑turn lanes at major intersections to preserve vehicle and bus flow.
- Floating bus stops and select bus pullouts south of Canyon Boulevard to reduce conflicts between buses and cyclists and to preserve bus travel time.
- Sidewalk widening and a new sidewalk to close a west‑side gap between Goss and Grove Streets.
Staff said VISSIM micro‑simulation modeling estimated the design could increase end‑to‑end travel time during the busiest evening peak by about 1 minute 4 seconds; roughly 30 seconds of that is attributable to a proposed posted speed reduction from 30 mph to 25 mph, and about 34 seconds to added signal phases intended to separate conflicting movements and reduce crash risk.
Board discussion focused on protected‑intersection geometry and cyclist interaction with the “eyebrow” or chicane elements. Jed Brown, a member of the public, had earlier raised a public‑comment concern that curb elements could create a chicane that some riders would avoid by moving into vehicle lanes. Daniel Sheeter, principal transportation planner, explained the lighter‑gray areas shown in the design are a mountable apron (typically raised about 2 inches with a beveled edge) intended to tighten turning radii for smaller vehicles while allowing larger vehicles to turn; he said they are rideable but “not designed for a cyclist to travel over at a higher speed.” Sheeter said final design work would refine geometry to preserve space for cyclists with longer bikes or trailers.
Another focus was safety on the south segment near Taft Drive, where steeper grades produce faster downhill cycling. Sheeter said staff moved a driveway curb cut, shifted a bus stop location, and added raised crossings and stricter turn control at Taft to reduce vehicle‑cyclist conflicts. Melanie Sloan said the design approach is informed by crash patterns and by guidance from the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration; staff also referenced application of National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) guidance on signal phasing.
Public engagement and analysis: The project team reported nearly 20,000 people were reached and 114 engagement events held since December 2024, including 34 events targeted to businesses along the corridor. Staff said the SEAP evaluation applied project‑specific criteria grouped into six categories; on the project scoring matrix the recommended design achieved the highest overall score among the alternatives, with the only notable shortcoming relative to one alternative being slightly less new landscaping.
What the board decided: TAB moved, seconded and passed a motion to recommend City Council approve the SEAP and recommended design. Mike (TAB member) moved the recommendation and Michael (TAB member) seconded it; the motion passed unanimously, recorded as 4 to 0. The record notes the recommendation goes to City Council on Aug. 7 as a call‑up item and could proceed to a public hearing on Aug. 21 if called up.
Quotations and attribution: All direct quotations in this article are taken from board members and staff who spoke at the June 9 meeting. Valerie Watson, interim director of Transportation and Mobility, praised staff and said the team “produced an elegant design that truly incorporates our community's priorities for the corridor.” Melanie Sloan described the technical document presented as “the seat” (the SEAP) and said the recommendation “strikes the right balance to make the corridor work better for everyone who uses it.”
Ending: With the TAB recommendation complete, next steps are City Council review and potential public hearing. Staff said more detailed geometric work, signal design, and finalization of intersection island geometry would occur in the next design phase if the SEAP and recommended design are approved by council.