[BikeLongmont] I-25 "North 40" EIS

[Mike Dodge]

Good questions about the EIS Richard,

Here are my comments/suggestions on them:

>1. At least a couple of people on this list occasionally bike-commute
>between the Tri-Town area and Longmont. How do you feel about the
>119/I-25 interchange? If CDOT were to spend money to improve this
>intersection, what are specific things that can be done to help you as
>a cyclist?  Would some sort of median to seperate truck-stop traffic
>from through traffic be a help or hindrance?

This intersection was designed without a thought given to cyclists.  I 
usually am going East on 119 and turning left on the access road.  I find 
that there is no proper place for a bicycle.  If you keep to the right, cars 
will be turning right in front of you and forcing you to turn right also.  I 
take the turn lane and go straight at the first intersection, but that then 
puts the cars entering the interstate to my left, and they are in no mood to 
yield to a bicycle.  What is the correct signal for I am going straight, 
don't run me over?

>3. Proposed I-25 improvements include continuous frontage roads. Any
>frontage road improvements should include wide lanes to allow for
>nicer bicycle access. Connections should be made to existing and
>proposed off-road bike/ped facilities that run near the frontage road.

The existing frontage roads are OK.  They need to improve lane marking at 
the areas where right turn lanes have been added.  The shoulders seem to 
merge into the right turn lanes and the cyclist is to the right of high 
speed turning cars.

>4. Mead plans to develop the I-25 corridor east of that city into a
>commercial strip of cheap motels, truck stops, fast food stops, and
>rental storage units. Frontage road and intersection changes will need
>to take slow-moving travel (bikes & peds) into account, instead of
>just focusing on moving the cars through as fast as possible.

See the above two comments.

5. I know several people who bike-commute to Broomfield from Longmont,
>but some portions of U.S. 287 between Ft. Collins to Denver can be
>scary for some bicyclists. Money for bike facilities (wide lanes,
>mostly) on US 287 would be well spent.

Parts are great and parts are almost unrideable.  I very seldom ride on 287 
for this reason.  For some reason most of the shoulder south of Longmont is 
grooved.  This does nothing for the cyclist but cause irritation.

>6. Weld County Road 1 is popular as a route to get around congestion
>on I-25 or US 287. Either improve this narrow country lane to handle
>the high volume of truck traffic, or figure out how to slow that
>traffic down. Speed limits on this narrow lane with cross-traffic near
>hills are 35 to 45 mph, but everybody zooms at 60 mph.

I have changed my route to avoid County Line Road (WC 1).  It is full of 
high speed trucks without brakes.  I now go to I25 and take the access road. 
  It adds time and distance, but I just do not feel safe on WC 1.  It needs 
shoulders.

Mike

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