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TO: Boulder City Open Space Board of Trustees
FROM: Boulder Area Trails Coalition Board of Directors
DATE: January 25, 2000
SUBJECT: Open Space Trails Projects
ATTACHMENT: Trail Connections
The Boulder Area Trails Coalition's mission is to promote non-motorized, multi-use, environmentally responsible trail systems in Boulder county. We support the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan goals and policies. We are particularly interested in helping achieve the Parks and Open Space goal of a countywide trail system to serve transportation and recreational purposes (Goal C.4). We support the existing and encourage additional inter-agency efforts to implement the Comprehensive Plan countywide trail system.
There are many open space goals, including environmental, cultural, scenic, and agricultural preservation, urban shaping, and recreation. The latest City and County Open Space Opinion Surveys and the recent successful County Open Space Ballot Issues show strong public support for all these goals, including significant support for trails. As we move into what may be the final phases of City and County Open Space programs, BATCO would like to see attention focused on making the Comprehensive Plan conceptual countywide trail system a reality. We believe this goal can be achieved primarily through connections between and access to existing open space properties. We recommend that trail connections be given increased weight in City and County acquisitions and project planning.
We would like to take this opportunity to make some recommendations concerning City and County trail projects. To facilitate long term planning, we've attached lists of potential trail connections and an analysis of the effect just a few such connections could have on the trail system. In the short term, we have some specific suggestions for City and County trail connection projects:
- from North Foothills and/or Boulder Valley Ranch north to the Heil Ranch
- from the Cottonwood trail north under the RR and Diagonal to the bikeway
- from the east end of the Cottonwood trail to the west end of the Willows trail
- from Gunbarrel to Boulder Reservoir via the IBM acquisition
- from Lookout Road north to the Niwot trails via the power line alignment
- from the South Boulder Creek trail to the Teller Farm via Dry Creek
- from the Marshall Mesa/Greenbelt Plateau east to the Coalton trail
We believe realizing these connections would have a positive and dramatic effect on Boulder's open spaces by relieving congestion on the trails and at the trailheads and by eliminating motor traffic to and from presently isolated trail segments. We strongly recommend that serious consideration be given to these suggestions.
BATCO will provide whatever assistance we can to help achieve these objectives. We would like to see a more detailed implementation plan created for the trail system and would be happy to aid in the development of such a plan. We believe we could contribute to the identification of requirements, critical connections, access issues, priorities and in converting conceptual corridors to more specific alignments. We also believe we may be helpful in facilitating the inter-agency cooperation required build a countywide system (by demonstrating a public interest, providing another public voice, and contributing our time and efforts to the process).