A Safer Baseline for a Thriving Community

Baseline Road Transportation Safety Project Phase 1

Aerial photo of Baseline Road near Williams Village during the summer. A bus is visible waiting for passengers to embark or disembark on the right side of the road. On the left side of the road, two vehicles are driving.

Welcome! ¡Bienvenido!

Phase 2 has kicked off! Visit the city's  Baseline Road Transportation Safety Project webpage  for community engagement opportunities.

How to Navigate

To learn the most about the project, scroll this page from the beginning to the end. It should take about 10 minutes. To skip to specific sections, use the navigation bar at the top.  Need assistance?  We're here to help.

Project Overview

The Baseline Road Transportation Safety Project (28th Street to Foothills Parkway) is a multi-year initiative to improve safety on one of the busiest and most critical crash corridors in the city: a home to many key community destinations and services, including affordable housing, grocery stores, shops, health centers, houses of worship, and student housing for the University of Colorado Boulder.

The city is working in phases to start sooner and use funding efficiently. Phase 1 began in August of 2022 and took advantage of pre-scheduled pavement resurfacing as part our Pavement Management Program (PMP). Phase 2 kicked off in spring of 2024 and will include bigger design changes.

Starting with Safety

The map on the right shows all crashes citywide between 2018 and 2020. Each point marks where a person was severely injured or died while traveling in Boulder.

 Vision Zero  is the Boulder community's goal to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries. Part of the city’s  Transportation Master Plan , this goal is inspired by the belief that traffic crashes are preventable, and even one death is too many.

The  Vision Zero Boulder: Safe Streets Report  shows that 67% of serious traffic crashes in the city occur on core arterial streets. These arterials make up only 17% of all roads in the city. Many of these corridors were also identified as part of the  regional high-injury network  for the entire Denver Metro region.

This data drives Boulder’s approach.

In response, the city is focusing its investments and resources to improve these streets: the  Core Arterial Network (CAN) . The CAN is a connected system of protected bicycle lanes, intersection enhancements, pedestrian facilities, and transit facility upgrades that will help our city move toward Vision Zero, making it comfortable, convenient and safe for people to get where they need to go along Boulder’s main corridors.

Boulder City Council, in partnership with the  Transportation Advisory Board , elevated work on the CAN as  one of its 10 priorities  in January 2022.

There are 13 corridors on the CAN – with improvements already happening on seven of these.

The three blue corridors on the map with gold outlines have been prioritized for design and community engagement:

  • Baseline Road from 28th Street to Foothills Parkway
  • Iris Avenue from 28th Street to Broadway
  • Folsom Street from Pine Street to Colorado Avenue

These corridors are being addressed first to improve travel on key north-south and east-west corridors in the city and to take advantage of scheduled road maintenance.

Baseline Road was the first CAN Priority Corridor. Previously planned pavement maintenance work for 2023 provided an opportunity to make early safety improvements to this top 10 crash location corridor ( 2022 Safe Streets Report ).

Project Phasing and Schedule

In spring and summer 2022, staff identified a first phase set of safety and comfort improvements to combine with  pavement resurfacing work  scheduled for Baseline during 2023. This early work also made it clear that more improvements were needed than what could be done with paving alone. To help fund these important safety changes, the city successfully competed for a federal grant from the  Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) . This funding will provide $3,122,000 for the project on top of the city’s $860,000 in local match.

Phase 1 improvements were completed in 2023 during scheduled, city-funded pavement resurfacing. Phase 2 planning, design, and construction of multimodal improvements will begin in 2024 when federal funds are received, with construction planned for 2025.

Phase 1 (2022-2023)

City Funds

Safety improvements began in 2023 at prioritized locations between 28 th  Street and Foothills Parkway, including pavement resurfacing, physical protection to bike lanes, and restriping and narrowing of travel lanes.

This work built on  earlier improvements  and two federal  Highway Safety Improvement Program  (HSIP) projects at Baseline Rd and Mohawk Dr and Baseline Rd and Canyon Creek Rd.

Map of Phase 1 project limits and related projects

Phase 2 (2024-2026)

Federal and City Funds

Phase 2 community engagement, planning and design began in 2024 when federal TIP funding came available.

Combining the federal grant award with local dollars will help the city make more comprehensive, capital-intensive multimodal improvements between 30 th  Street and Foothills Parkway.

Find out more information and provide feedback on proposed Phase 2 changes in the  Baseline Transportation Safety Project Phase 2 Virtual Open House. 

Map of Phase 2 project limits

Each phase of important safety changes has its own schedule:

Phase 1 (Completed)

Spring and Summer 2022

Planning, community engagement, and design

Winter 2022-2023

Final design of improvements

Spring Through Fall 2023

Pavement resurfacing and implementation of Phase 1 safety improvements

Phase 2 (Current Phase)

Spring & Summer 2024

Planning and community engagement

Fall 2024 through Early 2025

Planning and final design

2025 or 2026

Construction of prioritized set of safety improvements


What We Learned

Photo collage of engagement conducted at Back to School Transportation Safety Fair

Back to School Transportation Safety Fair - August 27, 2022

In Summer and Fall of 2022, we engaged with the community through a transportation safety fair, walk and bike site visits, CU Boulder-related events and a questionnaire. Community and stakeholder feedback helped staff identify existing issues and develop a fuller understanding of Baseline to better improve it. Your lived experiences helped drive safety improvements to Baseline.

To understand how we could best improve travel safety and comfort on Baseline, staff involved your feedback to help inform community context and understand what traveling the corridor is like.

We listened to lived experiences from:

  • Commuters from outside City Limits
  • Residents living along Baseline
  • Students from CU Boulder
  • Key stakeholders like the city's  Community Connectors  and local businesses
  • Advocacy organizations like Boulder Walks and Community Cycles
Map of Baseline Road showing adjacent destinations, street network and bike network

Six themes emerged from our engagement efforts:

—Travel Speeds —Street Crossings —Sidewalk and Pavement Condition —Transit —Circulation —Bicycle Safety

Icons of the 6 themes that emerged from the questionnaire. Travel Speed icon shows a car with speed lines emerging from behind. Street Crossings icon shows a person in a crosswalk with a flashing crossing light. Sidewalk and Pavement Condition icon shows a person walking over an uneven sidewalk. Transit icon shows a person waiting at a bus stop. Circulation icon shows an arrow pointing in three different directions. Bicycle Safety icon shows an image of a bike with a child carrier in back.

Travel Speeds

Back to School Transportation Safety Fair - August 27, 2022

  • People said that the speed and number of vehicles made it feel unsafe for walking and biking
  • Wide travel lanes and 35 and 40 mile-per-hour posted speed limits were mentioned as factors that contribute to these concerns
  • Data collection showed that average vehicle speeds are higher than the posted speed limits along Baseline

 

Street Crossings

Photo of pedestrians waiting in the median to cross Baseline Road at a location without a designated crossing

Pedestrians waiting in the median to cross Baseline Road at a location without a designated crossing

I wish there was a yield or pedestrian crossing with the flashing lights near the Will Vill campus, I find many students cross there and it's not always the safest.  

  • People noted that because there is almost a mile between marked pedestrian crossings, many people cross Baseline Road by hopping lanes of traffic in the middle of blocks or at unmarked intersection crossings
  • People responded that short crossing times while cars are using left turn lanes can make it feel unsafe to cross marked intersections with high volumes of traffic, such as 30th Street, Mohawk Drive and Foothills Parkway
  • There were multiple comments that the traffic signal operations and intersection design contribute to conflicts between vehicles and people in the crosswalk

 Crosswalks at 30th & Mohawk are always a problem. Many seniors and wheelchairs yet impatient drivers trying to turn.

 

Sidewalk and Pavement Condition

  • People reported difficulty walking and biking due to the rutted pavement and uplifted sidewalk panels
  • Baseline Road is also due for pavement resurfacing with some segments in poor and fair condition

 

Transit

Photo of the westbound bus stop at 37th and Baseline on a grassy median which does not have a sidewalk connecting to it.

The westbound bus stop at 37th and Baseline does not have a sidewalk connecting to it

Baseline is so wide. There must be plenty of room to make good bike and bus facilities.

  • There are frequent bus trips along Baseline, including services connecting student housing to university campuses and a route between Boulder and Lafayette
    • People noted that many transit stops are inaccessible and lack amenities, such as shelters, benches, trash facilities and secure bicycle parking
    • People on bikes experienced having to merge into the adjacent vehicle lane when buses pass through the bike lane to access transit stops

 

Circulation

I used to live in the neighborhood north of Baseline Road and used this corridor occasionally as a cyclist and pedestrian. Placemaking, trees and wider sidewalks would be amazing along here and help connect Williams Village dorm complex with CU East Campus.

  • People noted that limited crosswalks and missing sidewalks along Baseline make it challenging to connect to key paths when walking or biking, such as the nearby Bear Creek Path
  • People shared that they travel out of their way to access marked crossings and key infrastructure where they feel more comfortable walking and biking
    • University students traveling between Williams Village and CU’s East Campus must backtrack to 30th Street to cross Baseline at a signalized intersection
    • Residents of the western end of the East Aurora neighborhood must backtrack east to access the Bear Creek Path Undercrossing

Bicycle Safety

I would like to feel safe enough to have my kids bike along that stretch right now there isn’t enough separation from drivers.

  • People reported not feeling safe or comfortable bicycling in the existing protected bicycle lanes
    • The lanes are marked with striping and flexible posts, which are not evenly spaced
    • Buses frequently cross the lane to access transit stops
  • People noted that they felt unsafe biking due to their experience with high vehicle speeds and conflicts with vehicles turning at driveways and side streets
  • As a result, people avoid Baseline’s bike lanes and instead ride on the sidewalk or through nearby neighborhoods.

I largely commute by bike in Boulder, but I avoid this section of Baseline due to safety concerns, opting instead to travel by multi-use path. If Baseline offered a truly protected bike lane, I would much prefer to use that.


What's Next?

Your input, combined with an analysis of existing conditions, helped inform the prioritization and placement of safety improvements in Phase 1, and will continue to inform Phase 2.

The themes we heard from the community highlighted how bicycling on Baseline feels uncomfortable. With the help of this feedback, we focused Phase 1 on protected bicycle lane changes that could be made quickly and efficiently by building on prior and scheduled improvements while we waited for federal funds. For more details about Phase 1 changes and to view information and provide feedback on proposed Phase 2 changes, view the  Baseline Transportation Safety Project Phase 2 Virtual Open House.  

Sign up below to receive project and community engagement updates. For more information, please visit the project homepage.

Help

The City of Boulder is in the process of making all of its websites and applications more accessible. While much progress has been made, some features and actions in this virtual open house may be inaccessible for certain people. If you would like assistance using and navigating this map, click the following link to contact the City's ADA Coordinator for assistance:  Accessibility Complaint or Request Form . You may also call the City's ADA Coordinator at 720-576-2506. Please know that the City is happy to assist you and do not hesitate to reach out.


Back to School Transportation Safety Fair - August 27, 2022

Pedestrians waiting in the median to cross Baseline Road at a location without a designated crossing

The westbound bus stop at 37th and Baseline does not have a sidewalk connecting to it