Completion of city’s second fully protected intersection, new protected bike lanes and bus lanes

The City of Boulder has completed construction on the 28th Street and Colorado Avenue Protected Intersection Improvements project to improve multimodal transportation — walking, biking, driving and taking the bus. The project aims to increase safety, comfort and connectivity at and nearby the intersection, one of the areas in the city with the highest number of crashes.

The project has constructed:

  • The city’s second fully protected intersection. Protected intersections improve safety by providing physical separation between vehicles and people walking and rolling up to and through the intersection while making it easier for all travelers to see and be seen by drivers. Watch the protected intersection in motion.
  • Sidewalk-level protected bike lanes eastbound and westbound along Colorado Avenue, connecting to existing protected bike lanes and multi-use paths in the area.
  • Conflict zone pavement markings, and ADA, sidewalk and traffic signal improvements.
  • Bus lanes on Colorado Avenue from Folsom Street to just west of 30th Street, and transit stop improvements. Other travelers can also access the bus lane for right turns.

On the city's busiest, high-traffic and high-ridership streets like Colorado Avenue, dedicated bus lanes increase the number of people that can move through a street at one time by removing buses from general traffic and supporting high-frequency ridership. These improvements increase transit speed, reliability and safety by reducing delays riders may experience and, like many North American cities, separating the outer lane with red markings to make it easier for all travelers to see where to go.

“The headway we're making on this connected set of projects is thanks to years of efforts from the community, boards and council, city partners and staff,” said Transportation and Mobility Capital Projects Manager Gerrit Slatter. “We’re excited to start seeing our community traveling on these new and improved streets as we continue to build safer infrastructure across town.”

This is the third completed project recommended by the 30th and Colorado Corridors Study, connecting to other study improvements including the city’s first protected intersection at 30th Street and Colorado Avenue.

Improvements support Boulder's transportation vision to be safe, be equitable, be reliable, provide travel choices and support clean air and our climate commitment. Work also advances Boulder’s Vision Zero goal to reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries to zero and supports the city's Core Arterial Network (CAN), the connected system of multimodal transportation improvements along Boulder’s main corridors that will help reduce the potential for severe crashes and make it more comfortable and convenient for people to get where they need to go.

Learn more on the project webpage.

Person biking next to corner island on protected bike lane at intersection
28th and Colorado bus only lane markings
28th and Colorado intersection from above with the flatirons in the background. Buses, cars, bikes and people walking travel.

Keep Reading