Boulder’s Transportation Advisory Board is leading the charge for protected bike lanes in the city’s proposed reconstruction of North Broadway, a 4000-foot swath of thoroughfare that is due for an overhaul.

Staff is recommending, due in part to budget constraints, buffered bike lanes rather than protected bike lanes.

The bike lanes are roughly 4 feet wide now but could be widened to 5 feet with a 2-foot striped buffer between those lanes and vehicle traffic. In another scenario, the bike lanes on the east side of the road could be widened to 5 feet and protected from traffic by on-street parking and a 3-foot striped buffer — an alternative for which staff said they do not have the funds.

“When this project was originally pursued for funding five years ago, it was largely a reconstruction project,” said Bill Cowern, interim co-director of public works for transportation. “Its purpose was to reconstruct the main roadway and make as much of it concrete instead of asphalt. Whenever we do a project like that, we try to look at it from a ‘complete streets’ standpoint, and see what other kinds of improvements we can

incorporate into it.”

A buffered bike lane, he said, is a well-accepted enhancement that provides more comfort and room to maneuver than a traditional lane but that is more cost effective than a protected lane.

City staff in 2014 secured federal money through the Denver Regional Council of Governments to reconstruct the road, began planning and design work in 2016, and plan to seek construction bids next month. In total the project’s transportation budget is $8.3 million, of which $6.2 million is federal funding, as well as an additional $3 million in storm and flood utility funds.

Protected bike lanes could add $2 million plus maintenance and other costs to the project, staff estimated in a memo to the board.

Transportation Advisory Board member Mark McIntyre said the board wants to ensure the proposed reconstruction best meets the city’s transportation goals and fits into the low-stress walk and bike network.

“What the board has been trying to emphasize is that we don’t want to end up with the status quo for the next 40 years,” McIntyre said. “We don’t want to spend $8 million of everybody’s money and end up with the status quo baked into this thing.”

Added board member Alex Weinheimer: “I worry that we’re locking ourselves into a street configuration for a generation that won’t meet national best practices the day it opens.”

Ideally, Cowern, said, staff would support protected bike lanes too because of the feelings of comfort and safety they provide for bicyclists, but the lack of extra transportation funding and the deadlines attached to the federal funding make that proposition more difficult.

“Unless something happens and more money is made available, I’m not sure what other alternative staff could recommend, short of eliminating another project,” he said.

Board members plan to examine the transportation budget and turn to council for input between now and their board’s public hearing on the matter Aug. 12.

“It’s pretty rare that you have the opportunity to scrape off the asphalt and start fresh,” said board member Tila Duhaime. “… This is a place where we can adopt Vision Zero principles and strategies.”

Another possible alternative is to install a buffered bike lane on the east side of the road with protective bollards and a multi-use path on the west side.

Regardless, Cowern said, the project needs to go forward both for the capital reconstruction that is its main focus and the other improvements it provides on that stretch of roadway.

“The project is a substantial improvement over what exists out there today,” Cowern said. “Given the choice between building what we’re recommending and giving the money back, which (choice) is better is obvious.”

McIntyre, for his part, said the board is grateful to staff for securing the funding, and they hope to come to a resolution Aug. 12.

“This has been a conundrum but I don’t feel like it’s a failure,” he said. “We don’t have a giant staff-versus-board issue. We’re all working together really well, trying to figure this one out.”