#bldrlivinglab

To enhance safety for all travel options, the City of Boulder will be installing a Living Lab pilot project that will temporarily repurpose vehicle lanes along Folsom Street between Valmont Road and Colorado Avenue. The installation process will require both daytime and nighttime single-lane closures along this section of Folsom Street from July 13 through 18, with some daytime bike lane closures and detours continuing through July 24. The Folsom Street Living Lab will use signs, painted pavement markings, and flexible delineators that will be easy to remove if the city determines that the experiment needs to be refined or discontinued.

As part of Boulder’s Transportation Master Plan, Phase II of the Living Lab pilot projects will test and evaluate whether “Complete Streets” will enhance travel safety for all ages and abilities, including people who drive, walk, bike and bus. The Boulder City Council has also supported the installation of two additional pilot projects that will temporarily repurpose vehicle lanes along Iris Avenue from Folsom Street to Broadway and along 63rd Street from Lookout Road to Gunbarrel Road/Nautilus Drive.

The city will assess the Folsom Street Living Lab for four weeks and then check in with the Transportation Advisory Board and City Council prior to the proposed installations along the Iris Avenue and 63rd Street corridors. This phased approach will allow the city to carefully monitor conditions and respond to any unintended consequences. The outcome of the Folsom Street assessment will inform potential adjustments or changes to this and other two pilot project installations.

The community’s experience with the Folsom Street Living Lab is a vital component of the city’s evaluation process. Motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians and residents are encouraged to share their observations about the impacts – positive, neutral or negative – that the project is having on their ability to get around Boulder. Community input, along with the technical transportation analyses, will be used to determine whether Complete Streets are an effective way to help the community achieve its goals for safer streets and a more sustainable transportation system.

If the city proceeds with the other two installations, it is anticipated that the Iris Avenue pilot project would be installed approximately four weeks after the Folsom Street project. The 63rd Street project would then be installed approximately four weeks after the Iris Avenue project.