Client: Boulder County Transportation Project: SH 119 Bus Rapid Transit & Bikeway Facility Design I. Applicant (Client) Information Organization Name and Address Boulder County Transportation, 2525 13th St Suite 203 Boulder CO 80304 Organization Website http://www.bouldercounty.org Client Contact Name and Title Alex Hyde-Wright, Bicycle Planner/ ETC Client Contact Email ahyde-wright@bouldercounty.org Client Contact Phone 303-441-4910 Please describe your organization (and/or department) including mission, scope of work, key program activities and target population. Boulder County Transportation works to ensure safe and efficient public transportation, both within Boulder County and along regional transportation corridors. The Transportation Department is made up of six divisions and serves the 300,000 residents of Boulder County and the many more visitors and employees who travel in Boulder County. The Engineering Division designs and constructs roadways, bridges and other transportation projects on the County s road network. The Planning Division plans for future capital projects, manages the County s floodplain and is currently heavily involved in creek restoration and other flood repair efforts following the 2013 floods. Road Maintenance maintains the County s road network, including plowing, sweeping, and minor repairs and resurfacing. The Admin and Fleet Divisions provide internal support to the County. The Multi-Modal Division, which would manage this capstone project, works to deliver transit, bicycle and other sustainable travel options to the public through a variety of grants, feasibility studies, and partnerships throughout the region. Some recent examples of Multi-Modal Division projects include transit buy-ups, Bus-then-Bike shelters and the Trip Tracker student incentive program.
II. Capstone Project Description Proposed Project Title SH 119 Bus Rapid Transit & Bikeway Facility Design Select from the following list all of the subject areas that are relevant to your proposed project. X X Community Development Economic Development Environmental Planning Healthy Communities Historic Preservation Housing International Planning Land Use/ Physical Planning Parks and Open Space Real Estate Development Regional Sustainability Rural/ Small Town Planning Social Justice Suburban Development Transportation Planning Urban Design Urban Revitalization Vulnerable/ Special Populations Other: Please provide a brief overview of the issue or problem to be addressed by the Capstone project. The Northwest Area Mobility Study (NAMS) identified SH 119 (the Diagonal Hwy) as the highest priority corridor in Boulder County- after US 36 (Denver-Boulder Turnpike)- for BRT or similar transit improvements. Many employees who work in Boulder live in Longmont, which creates acute congestion in the peak hours. While the existing BOLT and J RTD routes provide transit service on this corridor, at present these routes feature few, if any, of the key characteristics that enable bus rapid transit to provide a superior transit product and attract substantially more riders than regular bus service does. SH 119 does feature wide shoulders that could potentially be used as transit or HOT lanes, but presently there are no safe alternatives for bicyclists who commute on the existing shoulders. This
capstone project will examine alternatives for safely balancing the needs of transit riders, bicyclists and motorists on SH 119 while expanding the corridor s capacity to move people. Why is this issue of particular relevance to your organization at this time, and what are the practical implications of this issue or problem? In 2015 RTD assembled $3M in funding to study BRT on the SH 119 corridor, relying in large part on a grant from the Denver Regional Council of Governments. Set to begin at some point in 2016, this study will convene major stakeholders including RTD, CDOT, the City of Boulder, the City of Longmont, and Boulder County and take the project up to 30% design and include environmental clearances. It is Boulder County s desire that this capstone project provide Boulder County staff an early look at the trade-offs involved between center-running and outside-running BRT, bikes on shoulders versus a separated bikeway, and other design alternatives. Capstone projects may be completed by one student, or projects with a larger scope may be completed by a team of two or three students. However, each student must contribute a unique piece of the project. How many students do you anticipate working on this proposed project? 1-2 What are the activities/ tasks you expect the Capstone student to undertake? (e.g., conduct a survey, create a plan, conduct a GIS analysis). (If this is a team project, identify each team member's anticipated activities.) The student(s) will look at different Bus Rapid Transit and bike facility alternatives, and deliver a detailed plan for the preferred alternative. This process will evaluate some of the following design elements that could be incorporated into the final design: Center-running BRT Outside-running BRT Transit-only lanes or shoulders High Occupancy Toll (HOT), Express or managed lanes Transit Signal Priority Dedicated bikeway Bikes on shoulders Transit station layouts and configurations This project is scalable, so one to two students could work on this project. If one student will complete this project, it is likely that only one design alternative will be taken to the concept plan level. A second student working on this project could complete a concept plan for a different design alternative. While there would undoubtedly be cooperation in terms of the analysis, each student would be responsible for their own design alternative. What are the deliverables that are expected of the Capstone student at the completion of the project? (e.g., a comprehensive report, recommendations). (If this is a team project, identify each team member's expected deliverables.)
The deliverables shall include the following: (Per Student) Concept level plan of at least one Bus Rapid Transit and bicycle facility alternative. This plan shall be delivered in the form of an 11 x 17 plan set of the corridor, with more detailed and zoomed in plans for at least two of the major intersections on the corridor. (Team or individual student) Discussion and analysis of the trade-offs that the alternative(s) explored. If plans are provided for only one design alternative, a detailed discussion should be presented explaining why other alternatives were not selected. (Team or individual student) Brief overview of the relative cost implications of different alternatives. This could be limited to how many new lane-miles of roadway, ped/bike underpasses, etc. different alternatives would require. What specific skills or qualifications would be helpful for the Capstone student(s) to have in order to address this problem? (e.g., knowledge of specific software, experience in your issue area) Knowledge of the concepts of transportation planning and features of bus rapid transit are important to the successful completion of this project. Familiarity with applicable United States/ international bus rapid transit case studies, and the political or economic forces that shaped them, would be extremely helpful, but research in this area could be the first step of the project. Some experience or understanding of bicycle facility design will also be important. A working knowledge of GIS, Illustrator and/or AutoCAD will also be essential to completing this project. Knowledge of all three is not required, but the student must have the ability to deliver concept-level plans to scale, overlaid on aerial imagery. How, and by what combination of software, this is accomplished will be left up to the student. Some knowledge or experience with traffic engineering would be helpful but not required. Understanding how sight/stopping distances, turning templates, signal phasing/timing and AASHTO roadway standards will impact potential design alternatives will result in a more professional capstone project. The county can also help to build the student s skill set in this area by lending resources and sharing expertise. III. Special Considerations If applicable, please describe any special considerations the MURP program and/or Capstone student(s) should be aware of. There are several considerations specific to this project: A distinguishing feature of this capstone project is its real-world application. RTD has secured funding and will be hiring a consultant team to advance SH 119 BRT to the 30% plan level. While this capstone project will aid Boulder County and other agency staff in their thinking for this corridor, the consultant team hired by RTD will be managing the study that leads to the final design and eventual construction. At this time, it is unknown if the student s capstone project will happen in advance of or concurrent to the consultant study. In contrast to the Colfax or South Broadway corridors, which are entirely urban/suburban and may be evaluated by RTD for rapid transit service, SH 119 features an extensive rural segment in between the
distinct cities of Boulder and Longmont. While in many cases, rapid transit service is used as a catalyst for increased development and land use planning surrounding stations, the land adjacent to SH 119 in the rural section is largely City or County Open Space or agricultural land protected by conservation easements. These adjoining land uses are intentionally permanent. As this capstone project will be focused almost exclusively on the rural section between the cities of Boulder and Longmont, it will not feature a land-use component. However, there are five major intersections on the corridor and several of these are close to, but not within, major employment centers and residential communities. Boulder County has, or will be able to locate a substantial amount of GIS data to aid the student s project, including but not limited to: ROW and parcel information, topography, aerial imagery, road ownership and maintenance data, and creeks, ditch and culvert locations. However, some data will likely be missing, including wetlands or soils information that will influence the eventual 30% plans prepared by RTD s consultant. Boulder County will be able to provide or help locate plans and information on adjacent transportation projects in Boulder or Longmont that tie in to the rural SH 119 segment that is the focus of this capstone project. RTD is currently conducting a survey asking transit patrons to rank their preference for BRT amenities; it is unknown if the survey results will be released in time to inform this capstone project.