City of Boulder improving high risk crash intersections
The City of Boulder is improving what they call "high risk" intersections. These are intersections that see the highest risks of crashes in the Colorado city. These include:
- Baseline Road and Broadway
- Baseline Road and Mohawk Avenue
- Folsom Street and Pine Street
Officials say Baseline Road and Broadway are on the higher end of crashes. Their data shows there have been 200 crashes over the last five years at this intersection. Most of the crashes involve pedestrians and bikers. Officials say in this intersection alone, a bus carries people every 15 minutes, almost 4,000 people walk or bike and around 55,000 people drive through it.
To improve all three intersections, there will be temporary road closures. This is so the city can upgrade their signal lights. They will also implement the following:
- Protected left-turn and right-turn phasing
- Dedicated turn lanes
- Smart signals that operate based on multimodal traffic conditions
- Adjusted crossing times for people to cross the street in one signal cycle
- Accessibility improvements to curb ramps
"We are changing the traffic signal so we can give people turning left their own time to cross without anyone traveling through," Melanie Sloan, Principal Project Manager for City of Boulder Transportation and Mobility Department. "We can eliminate that risk and reduce those crashes."
The project is expected to begin in April and be completed by the end of May. The city says they will need two full months to do the work.
The city says this project costs about $2 million. The city says they applied for grant funds throught the Highway Safety Improvement Program. This uses both city and state funding to match federal dollars. The city received $1.8 million in federal grant funds. The city and the state of Colorado will contribute the balance.
To learn more about this project or the impacts, visit bouldercolorado.gov.
