The City of Boulder is charting a course towards safer streets with a newly completed evaluation of designs aimed at improving travel on Folsom Street. According to the City of Boulder, the community is invited to review these proposed changes at either an in-person Open House on June 10 from 4-6:30 p.m. or via a virtual option online. The event offers locals a chance to learn about the project's recommendations and contribute to the final evaluation and design.
Interested attendees can stop by anytime during the Open House to engage with the plans, while staff will be poised to field questions and consider public perspectives. After making its way through the Transportation Advisory Board and potentially getting a nod from the City Council, feedback collected from the public will help guide the design process to its next phase. The city's concern for safer roads is evident, given Folsom Street's crash history, with crashes that disproportionately affect those walking, biking, and rolling.
As a Vision Zero city, Boulder is committed to the elimination of serious injuries and fatalities on its roadways. In light of a Safe Streets Report revealing that a staggering 67% of severe crashes occur on arterial streets, even though they constitute a mere 17% of the entire road network, this redesign is a strategic move backed by data-driven approaches. Folsom Street resides within Boulder's High-Risk Network and is a part of the city's approach under the Core Arterial Network (CAN) initiative, which pins this stretch as a pivotal southern corridor for Boulder's transportation framework.
Embracing multimodality, Boulder's CAN initiative aims to cater to pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and transit riders alike. Given this, the section of Folsom Street between Pine Street and Colorado Avenue is being prioritized by the city, ensuring the main thoroughfares of Boulder are secure and practical for all. To foster a connected, comfortable, and ultimately safer street system, Boulder is ushering in an era of more thoughtfully designed infrastructure to serve its community.
