Boulder staff outline 2026 pavement-management plan with mobility enhancements on Folsom, Pearl and 20th

City of Boulder transportation staff on May 11 briefed the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) on the 2026 pavement-management program and a companion mobility-enhancements initiative that will pair low-cost safety and multimodal improvements with scheduled repaving.

The presentation, led by Garrett Slater and planners James Smith and Daniel Sheeter, described treatment types (mill-and-overlay, chip seal, pavement rejuvenation and crack seal), the map of 2026 work and a set of short-term safety additions that will be installed alongside repaving to stretch funding and reduce risks for people walking and biking.

"We do have two line items in the capital improvement program that fund the improvements that we've presented this evening," Garrett Slater said, noting the pavement-management program and the PNP mobility-enhancements program are both included inside the city’s CIP. Daniel Sheeter added that the mobility-enhancements initiative "is a critical tool for implementing [the] transportation master plan" and allows the city to add protections such as floating bus stops and protected corner islands at lower cost when streets are repaved.

Why it matters: pairing striping and small concrete elements with repaving reduces traffic disruptions and the risk of throwaway work, officials said. Since 2020 the program has averaged about 1.7 miles of street improvements per year; cumulative totals presented by staff included nearly 11 miles of low-stress bike-network recommendations, almost 4 miles of corridor improvements and more than 2 miles of neighborhood green-street treatments.

Planned work and timeline: James Smith walked the board through the 2026 map (Chautauqua work recently completed; paving has started on Spruce and 4th). Key mobility-enhancement corridors this year are Folsom and Pearl, plus 20th Street between Alpine and Walnut. On Folsom (Arapahoe to Pine) staff proposed eliminating a short northbound lane merge at Spruce, installing post-separated bike lanes from Pearl to Pine, and installing temporary paint-and-post protected corner islands immediately after repaving with permanent concrete islands to follow in August. Staff said repaving and striping on 20th would begin in mid-May, with Pearl and Folsom work following in July after an HSIP (Highway Safety Improvement Program) intersection project at Folsom and Pine is completed.

Design examples and rationale: staff showed before-and-after images from past projects and said the city will initially use temporary materials (paint and flexible posts) to test layouts before investing in permanent curb and concrete work. Steven Bartels described buffered and post-separated bike lanes on segments of Pearl and 20th and curb-radius tightening and curb-ramp upgrades at Walnut and other crossings.

Funding and maintenance: staff clarified that the transportation maintenance fee (TMF) could be used for pavement-management maintenance once projects are completed but cannot be used to pay for mobility enhancements. "The TMF cannot be used for enhancements, which is what the mobility enhancements program is," Garrett Slater said. The CIP contains dedicated line items for both pavement management and the mobility-enhancements program.

Board reaction and next steps: board members praised the strategy of deploying interim treatments to gain near-term safety improvements while seeking funding for permanent projects, and asked staff for clearer public communication about how CIP projects, repaving schedules and enhancements relate. Staff said they will continue community engagement (postcards, emails, focus meetings and web updates) ahead of repaving and will coordinate installation timing to minimize traffic impacts.

The board had no formal action on the presentation; staff will return later in the year with the capital improvement program budget and continue outreach as paving and enhancements proceed.