City of Boulder Snow and Ice Response Review

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Thank you for joining the second Snow and Ice Response Review On-Demand Open House! This project will ensure the Transportation and Mobility Department’s Snow and Ice Response program delivers a safe, accessible, and sustainable multimodal transportation system for the entire community. The project is focused on potential changes to snow and ice response on streets, multi-use paths, the bike network, bus stops and shoveled areas maintained by the city’s Transportation and Mobility Department.   The first round of engagement occurred in early 2023 and focused on how the city currently responds to snow and ice. For more information about how the program operates now, click  here . This second on-demand open house shares draft recommended changes to the program based on  community input received  in the first round and an analysis of existing program and departmental data, and seeks additional feedback from the community through the  questionnaire at the bottom of the page . Implementation of any proposed changes to the program are dependent on available resources and may occur in the 2024/2025 winter season at the earliest.

To learn the most about the recommended program changes, scroll from the beginning to the end. It should take about 10 minutes to read through all the sections and fill out the  questionnaire . To skip to specific sections, use the navigation bar at the top of the webpage. This website is mobile-friendly but is best viewed on a computer. Please contact staff if you require an alternate format or know of an individual or organization that needs additional help to engage with this project, due to limited access to technology, a disability, or language access needs. Contact staff via  email  or 303-441-3200 with any requests or webpage issues.

In early 2023, the city launched its first round of engagement, focusing on increasing awareness of where snow and ice response services are delivered and why, and on soliciting input to inform potential program changes. A  virtual on-demand open house  and corresponding online questionnaire were the primary engagement tools and received 3,600 English views, 180 Spanish views and 618 responses. The project team also conducted stakeholder meetings with the City of Boulder’s  Community Connectors-in-Residence , other city departments and transit operators.

We asked respondents how they traveled daily and how they would prioritize existing components of the Snow and Ice Response program, including: snow clearing on major streets, snow clearing on streets with steep grades and tree shade, snow clearing on residential streets, snow clearing on multi-use paths, snow clearing on the on-street bike network, shoveling at key crosswalks and pedestrian crossings, shoveling at bus stops and sidewalk snow removal code enforcement. People’s preferred way to travel (by car, by bike, etc.) often determined their priorities, but all modes prioritized snow clearing on major streets and at key crosswalks and pedestrian crossings.  

We also asked the community about their satisfaction with each of the Snow and Ice Response program components. Responses differed by people’s preferred mode of travel, but all modes were mostly satisfied with snow clearing on multi-use paths and mostly dissatisfied with sidewalk snow removal code enforcement.

Questionnaire respondents had the opportunity to provide additional thoughts. Several themes emerged from their responses. We heard that the program should increase its focus on equity, environmental impacts, sidewalk snow removal enforcement and communication about snow events and expectations. We also heard that the program should align its priorities with  the city’s transportation goals  and assess its performance after snow events.  

To learn more about our first round of engagement, read the full  Round 1 Engagement Summary .

Guided by community input, city staff propose the following revised program purpose and goals:

The purpose of the Boulder Transportation and Mobility Department Snow and Ice Response program is to support multimodal travel and accessibility for all people by focusing on equity, safety, mobility and customer service before, during and after snow events.

The following proposed goals strive to fulfill the program purpose:

1. The Snow and Ice Response program equitably provides safe and accessible operating conditions for all modes of transportation.
2. The Snow and Ice Response program continuously evaluates program performance with data analysis and identifies changes for improvement in effectiveness and efficiency. 
3. The Snow and Ice Response program provides accessible, informative and timely communication before, during and after snow events so there is a shared understanding of roles and service levels internally and externally.

The project team developed a prioritized framework for service that is supported by data, while leaving room for historic knowledge of specific locations around the city. This approach allows the city, together with partners, to continue to provide snow and ice response to the community, while also allowing flexibility to scale the program up or down based on available staff, funding and changing infrastructure throughout Boulder.

The current program primarily uses street classification to prioritize snow clearing across the city. Major streets are prioritized into primary and secondary routes and cleared on a recurring basis depending on conditions such as traffic, time of day the storm begins and snowfall rate. Conditional routes are cleared after major storms and/or prolonged periods of forecasted below-freezing temperatures.

The draft framework uses forecasted storm size to guide resource deployment on streets, multi-use paths and shoveled areas. When snowfall exceeds the forecast, the higher level of service commitment will be met. Additionally, the city’s snow team may pre-treat streets and paths, provided that:

• The precipitation will start with snow (not rain or sleet)
• There is enough time to spread it before the next snow event

This restructuring of the program allows staff to focus on priorities we heard from the community: major streets, key pedestrian crossings, multi-use paths and critical bike routes.  

Use the circular slider button on the following maps to swipe between the current program on the left and the recommended changes on the right. Pan and zoom the map to view details. For streets, the left side of the map shows existing primary/secondary/conditional route tiering while the right side are the recommended 1st/2nd/3rd priority routes. These maps are best viewed on devices with larger screens but also function on phones and tablets.

During the first round of engagement, we heard from people who bike that connections between on- and off-street bike lanes and paths need to be improved. Though major bike routes are mostly cleared of snow, there are short segments with gaps in service, resulting in potentially snowy or icy conditions that can persist after storms. 

In response, a new bike route designation was developed for the proposed storm size approach. The team identified a combination of multi-use paths, low-traffic streets and protected bike lanes to create a network of “Crosstown Bikeways.” These principal bike routes provide access to major destinations such as neighborhood centers, schools, parks and open space, job centers and CU campuses. Identifying crosstown bikeways creates continuous connectivity across town for people biking.

These routes are preliminary and will be updated based on community feedback and the completion of planned capital projects. This category of bikeway will also be utilized for an upcoming update to the bike map and other Transportation and Mobility efforts.

Protected bike lane and intersection design can vary significantly. For example, some of our protected bike lanes are street-level and others are sidewalk-level. The type of vertical separation can also affect operations. As a result, snow and ice response requires tailoring service to each specific location and deploying specialized plows and contracted shoveling to clear snow. A specialized small plow was recently procured to clear snow from existing protected bike lanes and intersections. Additional resources and equipment may be needed to maintain a high level of service for the bike network as more bike infrastructure is built.

This chart summarizes the level of service changes using the recommended snow clearing framework and criteria. 

Staff reviewed the recommended program changes with a focus on equity. The city’s existing street clearing was compared to the city’s Equity Index Map, a mapping tool to assess equity across geographic regions of Boulder. The Equity Index Map combines race and ethnicity data with socioeconomic measures to identify where priority populations make up larger proportions of census block groups (consisting of 600-3,000 people). Each census block group received an equity score between one and five. Census block groups with higher scores are a higher priority for programs and services under the city’s commitment to advancing racial equity.

The recommended program changes increase the number of cleared residential streets in most areas of the city, and the areas of highest equity priority receive higher increases in residential street clearing. This table compares the existing and recommended levels of residential street response with the Equity Index.

The Snow and Ice Response program is managed by the Transportation and Mobility Department, with an adopted 2023 budget of $1.84M. The annual budget is developed each year for predicted average weather patterns and events. One or more significant storms, or extenuating circumstances, can increase costs above what is allocated. In the future, rising temperatures will likely lead to an earlier start and later end to snow seasons due to more moisture in the atmosphere. Additional funding can be allocated through the city’s budget process.

A 2013 voter-approved tax initiative provided additional funding that allowed the city to plow select residential streets in areas with steep slopes or ample shade after storms with eight inches or more of accumulation and/or prolonged periods of forecasted below-freezing temperatures. 

Like other Front Range communities, the city does not typically plow residential streets and sidewalks after every storm for several reasons:

• The resources and staff required to cover the scope of this effort is well beyond the current Snow and Ice Response program budget. Funding this level of response would take resources away from other essential city services.
• Since most residential streets are narrow, plows can only clear a single center lane, which causes large amounts of snow pile against parked cars and creates snow walls across driveways. As a result, it is difficult for people to access their vehicles or the road.
• In most cases, vehicle activity and the sun make residential roadways functional before city snowplows can get to them.
• Adding route mileage to clear snow from residential streets would also see more environmental impacts of increased snow and ice response – air quality, emissions, water quality and storm water infrastructure. Our level of response must be balanced with the city’s commitment to  its climate goals .

Transportation and Mobility will share program information and feedback related to sidewalk snow removal code enforcement processes with the Police Department. The Code Enforcement Unit may consider updates to Section 8-2-13 of the Boulder Revised Code (BRC) as a separate, future project.

• Visit the  Snow and Ice Response webpage  for general information about the program
• Visit the  Snow and Ice Response Review webpage  for specific information about these program updates
• Get your questions answered with the  Snow and Ice Response FAQ 
• Learn more about how the current program operates with the  Snow and Ice Response StoryMap 
•  Inquire Boulder  is available for community members to submit service requests for streets, multi-use paths and sidewalks. Icy street and multi-use path conditions can also be reported to the department at 303-413-7109. Sidewalk snow and ice removal is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner and the city’s Code Enforcement team responds to  service requests .

Clearing snow and ice from the city’s infrastructure requires snowplows, staff to operate the plows, and contractors to clear shoveled areas. Following feedback from the community during this round of engagement, staff will adjust the recommended framework of the Snow and Ice Response program and estimate the implementation costs. 

The next and final round of engagement in 2024 will consist of informing the community, as well as the Transportation Advisory Board and City Council, of the recommended program changes, implementation timeline and cost. For certain changes, additional funds will be requested from City Council through a formal budget process. 

Thank you for reviewing the second on-demand open house for the Snow and Ice Response Review project. Please complete the questionnaire below to provide feedback on the recommendations for program changes. If the questions don't load or you have trouble submitting, click  here  to view it on a separate page.