Traffic

Traffic conditions in the area, especially along State Highway 66 between Lyons, Longmont, and I-25, are a major concern. The existing  1998 mining permit held by Martin Marietta Materials allows for an average of 200 daily round-trip truck trips between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM, with a maximum of 240 truck daily trips to and from the site. That is one gondola truck entering or leaving the plant’s entrance on SH 66 every three minutes. The permit also allows six additional train trips daily of up to 35 rail cars per trip through Hygiene and Longmont (three round trips per day). The additional trucks and trains would negatively impact traffic, safety, noise, and pollution in an already congested area whose population has increased over 40% since the permit’s approval nearly two decades ago, according to the 2010 census. The proposed mining also would certainly impact other routes in the region that are increasingly strained by heavy traffic, such as Hwy 36 between Lyons and Boulder.

As of March 2017, CDOT was unaware of Martin Marietta Materials permit or plans to aggravate traffic conditions in the area. SOSVV attended the CDOT community presentation in March and informed CDOT of this imminent, potential threat. CDOT was already aware and very concerned about existing road hazards on SH 66, as detailed in their March 2017 presentation, even without the exorbitant increase in traffic and hazards in road conditions that this proposed mining operation poses.

Safety concerns

The SH 66 corridor poses a number of safety concerns:

Vehicular safety

Several intersection and mainline locations along SH 66 have a high number of crashes when compared to similar roadways. Between January and September of 2017 there were five traffic accident fatalities on Hwy 66.

Bicycle areas along the corridor have presented serious safety concerns, as revealed by recorded incidents and physical characteristics such as cross-street connections.

The Denver Post shares about the increases in fatalities associated with truck traffic in their May 5, 2019 article “Truck traffic kills more people, despite better inspections and more oversight. How safe are Colorado’s roads?”

Bicycle safety

A majority of the SH 66 corridor is a heavily utilized by bicycles engaging in recreation, commuting, and cycling races and other events. There are many areas of the corridor that have insufficient shoulders to accommodate cyclists, especially non-advanced riders.

Pedestrian safety

There are a number of pedestrian destinations in the corridor, many of which do not have sidewalks between the destinations.

Mobility and access issues

The movement of people, goods, and services along the corridor has resulted in a number of mobility problems related to various transportation modes.

Traffic congestion, inadequate intersections that fail to accommodate users’ needs, highway design, and unreliable travel times substantially impact the ability of people to move across and along the corridor.

The current number, locations, and design of public roadway accesses have contributed to operational and safety deficiencies relating to traffic along the corridor. There are individual private driveways, business accesses directly onto SH 66, and inconsistent access spacing, which leads to mobility and safety problems.

Transit service in the corridor is primarily focused on north-south connections and not local east-west service. There is currently a non-continuous connection of transit service providers in the corridor.

11/03/2017

State Highway 66 (SH66) Future Planning Project

The notice below has just been sent out by the consulting firm that was hired by CDOT in September, 2015, to investigate the “issues” that exist along SH66. I have stated several times over, on this particular “chat” group, that something needed to happen – sooner than later. I have just spoken with Kelly Leadbetter at the consulting firm and have committed to her that “we” (that’s the “collective community”) would do our very best to send their firm CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms and suggestions. Please follow the link and read both the “Purpose and Need” and “Corridor Conditions Report” BEFORE sending in any comments so that you can more efficiently address the “issues”. This is “OUR” opportunity to begin to interact with CDOT, through it’s consultants, so as to allow the SH66 project to address all the important issues. We will be forming a small “investigative” group of folks who, hopefully, can consolidate ALL issues and present them collectively to the consulting firm, Boulder County and CDOT. To those that have recently expressed their concerns on “Nextdoor” – THANK YOU for being a part of “Our Community”!

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The State Highway (SH) 66 Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) team would like your input! The project’s Purpose and Need as well as the project’s Corridor Conditions Report are now available for review on the project website,https://www.codot.gov/library/studies/co-66-pel Thank you, Kelly Leadbetter, AICP Felsburg Holt & Ullevig 6300 South Syracuse Way, Suite 600, Centennial, CO 80111 Phone: 303-721-1440 | Direct: 720-200-8978 Email: kelly.leadbetter@fhueng.com

CO 66 Planning & Environmental Linkages Study —

codot.gov