Trustees hear calls to open short bike connection from Shanahan Ridge to Dowdy Draw amid 7‑C planning

At the Open Space Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 10, 2025, several residents urged trustees to open a short, existing trail connection through Shanahan Ridge to provide a safe bicycle route to the Dowdy Draw and Marshall Mesa trailheads.

The comments came during public comment on the city’s 7‑C multimodal access planning effort and a staff presentation of preliminary data on visitor travel choices and trailhead infrastructure. The board heard that many riders — including high‑school mountain bike teams — currently must ride on Marshall Road and cross Highway 170 to reach the popular South Boulder trails.

The most direct appeals came from Wendy Sweet, executive director of the Boulder Mountain Alliance. “There is no bike legal way to make this connection through OSMP,” Sweet said. “Fixing this doesn't require building a new trail. It just requires thoughtfully opening a short section of an existing trail to bikes, enabling a safe, low emission, non motorized route that aligns perfectly with OSMP's climate goals.”

Andrew Feeney, a Fairview High School mountain bike coach, told trustees the issue was largely about safety for youth riders. “Our kids and our community need a safe non car route to this trailhead,” Feeney said. He said the matter was raised previously in 2011 and argued for immediate action to allow existing trail segments to be used by bike where the constraint is policy rather than property ownership.

Other speakers at the meeting echoed the safety and connectivity theme. Christine Lipson described the change as “an easy way to keep our kids safe” and urged trustees not to wait for more study. Michael Walsh, a Boulder Mountain Alliance board member, said the question is about dissipating after‑school peaks and reducing vehicle trips and congestion at trailheads.

Staff presented early results from the human‑dimensions and trailhead‑use analyses that OSMP has compiled to support the 7‑C planning direction. Among the figures staff cited: 59 percent of visitors across the study areas arrive by vehicle; residency affects mode choice, with 44 percent of city residents and 85 percent of out‑of‑county visitors arriving by car; and some high‑destination trailheads show very high vehicle counts (staff noted Chautauqua as an example with over a quarter‑million annual vehicle arrivals). The human‑dimensions manager said these data will help target where multimodal options and management changes could most reduce vehicle miles traveled.

Anna Reed, who presented OSMP’s 2024 trailhead utilization study, said average vehicle occupancy inside formal trailhead lots remained similar to earlier counts, but spillover parking is frequent at some sites and can create problems in adjacent streets and private drives. Reed also reported low average bike‑rack occupancy across the system but said racks were used more often at locations with high vehicle congestion and at special events. She described several near‑term applications: targeting priority locations for bike racks, monitoring spillover parking at specific sites (Dry Creek was shown as an example), and evaluating the effects of trailhead redesigns now underway (Marshall Mesa, Dry Creek, Sawhill Ponds, Chapman Drive and Flatirons Vista were mentioned).

Board members pressed staff for a clearer timeline and for actions that could be taken quickly on connections that are already physically present but closed to bike use. Trustee Michelle Estrella thanked public commenters and said she expected the board would discuss the details when the 7‑C presentation item appears later on the agenda. Several trustees said safety for young riders made this matter especially urgent; one trustee asked whether the board could ask staff to treat short, policy‑level openings (where no property change is needed) as a priority for 2026 planning and implementation.

Trustees and staff agreed the analysis is ongoing and that additional, targeted data and interagency coordination (city transportation, county staff, and OSMP) will inform specific recommendations. Staff told trustees they anticipate returning with more detailed alternatives and recommendations later in the 7‑C process, including a presentation of proposed priorities to planning staff and a planned follow‑up with the board in December and in early 2026.

Ending: The board did not vote on policy changes at the Sept. 10 meeting. Trustees asked staff to refine the 7‑C options and prioritized short, safety‑oriented trail connections that can be implemented where ownership and physical access already allow bike travel. Staff noted additional analysis and coordination with city and county transportation staff will guide whether such changes should be implemented administratively, through OSMP rules, or via amendments to existing planning guidance.