Boulder to eye proposed regional bus changes

BOULDER – The Boulder City Council plans to study proposed revisions in public transportation schedules and routes connecting Boulder and the Denver area during its regular study session Tuesday.

Under a proposal drafted by Regional Transportation District staffers, the eight regional routes connecting the areas would be merged into five in January 2016, as part of a system collectively branded the Flatiron Flyer. RTD planners say the new routes and schedules are meant to fulfill a “Bus Rapid Transit” function along the busy U.S. Highway 36 corridor, but the proposal has drawn criticism for slighting RTD’s new east Boulder transit hub by providing no midday, nighttime or weekend service there and no direct service from there to Denver’s Union Station.

The council’s study session is to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Boulder Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway. Public meetings on the proposed service plan will be held at 6 p.m. March 16 at the main Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave.; at 6 p.m. March 26 at the George Di Ciero City and County Building, 1 DesCombes Drive in Broomfield; and 6 p.m. April 1 at the Louisville Recreation Center, 900 W. Via Appia Way in Louisville.

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Comments about the plan also can be emailed to service.changes@rtd-denver.com with “U.S. 36 Service Plan” as the subject line.

The new routes proposed by RTD:

— The “All-Station” bus – similar to the current “BV” (Boulder Local) route but with more frequency – would provide service every 15 minutes throughout the day and evening on weekdays in both directions between the downtown Boulder transit center at 14th and Walnut streets and Denver’s multimodal downtown hub at the refurbished Union Station. On Saturdays, the current 30-minute Route BV frequency would increase to every 15 minutes at midday. It would stop along U.S. Highway 36 at the Table Mesa Park-n-Ride, McCaslin Boulevard in Superior, FlatIron Crossing shopping center, and the Broomfield, Church Ranch and Westminster park-n-rides.

— The “Limited” also would connect the downtown Boulder transit center with Union Station but only would stop in between at Table Mesa and McCaslin. That bus would run every 10 minutes in each direction, but only during weekday rush hours.

— The “DWB” (Denver-Westminster-Broomfield) also would run on weekdays only, every 15 minutes – eastbound during the morning rush and westbound during the afternoon rush.

— The “DM” would provide weekday-only service between the Boulder Transit Center and the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Center in Aurora, running every 30 minutes eastbound during the morning rush and westbound during the afternoon rush and stopping at Table Mesa, McCaslin, Broomfield and Westminster.

— The “BJCC” (Boulder Junction-Civic Center) would connect Denver’s Civic Center Station, on Broadway at the southeast end of the 16th Street Mall, with the new east Boulder transit center, dubbed Boulder Junction at Depot Square, being developed along Pearl Parkway east of 30th Street. That bus would run weekdays only, every 15 minutes in both directions during rush hours, with stops in between at Table Mesa, McCaslin, Broomfield and Westminster.

RTD also proposes to reroute the Route AB “Skyride” service to speed connections between Boulder and Denver International Airport. Instead of its current route along U.S. 36 to Interstate 270, then to I-70 and Pena Boulevard, the bus would exit U.S. 36 at the Northwest Parkway, continuing on E-470 to Pena. Those passengers farther east on the U.S. 36 corridor who wished to get to DIA would ride one of the new routes on to Union Station and transfer to other services available there, including the commuter rail line scheduled to open next year.

In the original FasTracks plan approved by voters in 2004, a commuter rail line was envisioned to connect Union Station with Longmont via east Boulder. The recession and increased costs of right-of-way on BNSF railroad lines moved completion of that project to the back burner, although the first phase of that Northwest Line construction – from Union Station to Westminster – is under construction and expected to open next year. The frequency of the Bus Rapid Transit system and dedicated lanes for it along U.S. 36 were planned to emulate the speed of rail as much of possible until it can be completed, RTD officials have said.

The discussion of the RTD proposal at Tuesday’s City Council study session will be one part of a general discussion of the city’s voluminous transportation master plan. Its many recommendations include a “Complete Streets” proposal to better integrate vehicular, bicyclist and pedestrian needs, and the feasibility of Bus Rapid Transit service along Colorado highways 7 and 119.