Engineering geeks may take the time to read the entirety of the Multimodal Transportation Plan, a dense and lengthy document. But the public is invited to comment on this plan, as well as the Transit Development Plan by Jan. 3, 2025, before these documents are revised and presented to the Town Board. This is expected to happen in March of next year.
The revised plans will be accompanied by a letter of recommendation – or condemnation – by the Transportation Advisory Board, who met on Dec. 18 to discuss the final steps of these plans.
TAB is a Citizen Advisory Board, which means it is governed by volunteers who meet with Town of Estes Park staff and other professionals to come up with recommendations to forward to the Town Board, which makes the final decision on what will happen and when. TAB is connected to the Town Board directly: Trustee Mark Igel, although not present on Dec. 18, serves as liaison between the Town and Transportation Advisory Boards.
The multimodal plan is a high-level document, explained Public Works Director Greg Muhonen, and the specific recommendations and prioritizations (which do not start until page 112 in a 141-page document) are not set in stone.
The public is invited to comment directly on these documents by visiting the links listed above. These comments will be considered by TAB in its final review of the document, scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 29, at noon at the Estes Valley Library. The public is invited to this session as well.
Two-thirds of the multimodal plan, which looks at cars, bikes, and pedestrians, is an explanation of what was studied, how it was studied, and the key takeaways. Muhonen pointed out an interesting fact about the study: cell-phone tracking was used to measure how quickly cars moved through Estes Park, depending on the season and time of day.
It was determined more people commute from other communities to Estes Park for work than those who live in town and drive to the Front Range, which was typically to the greater Denver area with workday commutes “exceeding 50 miles.”
Most residents (75%) commute by driving alone. Working from home, which greatly increased during COVID, is the next-highest category at 12%. Compared to what the study calls “peer communities” those who live and work in Estes Park have a much shorter commute.
Most of the roads commuters and visitors travel on are in the county and CDOT maintains 17 miles of roadway. This means the Town would need to coordinate with these jurisdictions to make some of the major improvements recommended in the document. The Town has successfully done this in many other projects such as the Estes Loop.
The plan noted that sidewalks and pathways exist but have gaps along major roadways and that access to town facilities via bike is made very difficult by no dedicated (striped) bike pathways. Pedestrian access was rated as only “moderate,” with travel along major highways and corridors most difficult for those not traveling by vehicle. Transit (bus) options are less funded and less efficient compared to the peer communities, concluded the study.
Members of TAB expressed concerns about biking access being rated as “minimal,” but Muhonen said that traffic planning has been “autocentric” since before he became public works director a decade ago.
Town Engineer Jeff Bailey added, “this discussion should have happened years ago to impact the plan as you see it today.”
The plan’s safety analysis revealed the most common traffic accidents were from single car, rear ends, and sideswipes with more accidents happening along roadways with frequent driveways and curves. Most of the accidents occurred on state highways, especially on Highway 34 and in the Downtown Corridor.
While the population in the study area has “slowed significantly” since 2010, the aging population more than doubled and is currently more than 50% of the population. Employment has increased 51% since 2022; the largest employment sectors are tourism-based or related to healthcare. However, there is a “substantial lack” of affordable workforce housing for current and predicted future additional employees.
Specific recommendations in the Multimodal Transportation Plan start on Page 112; suggested priorities start on page 130. Submit comments in writing on both documents by Jan. 3. Another opportunity for public comment will be at the next TAB meeting on Jan. 29 at noon.