City Council to talk about transportation issues
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Agenda
4 p.m. Council convenes as the Steamboat Springs Redevelopment Authority to discuss base area development
5:30 p.m. Roll call; review of mobility and transportation including consideration of bypass options
7 p.m. Public comment; second reading of an ordinance amending the municipal code
If you go
What: Steamboat Springs City Council meeting
When: 4 p.m. today
Where: Centennial Hall, 124 10th St.
Call: City offices at 870-2060 for more information
Steamboat Springs — Spurred by the increase of downtown traffic congestion this summer and the imminent development of west Steamboat, the Steamboat Springs City Council will discuss transportation issues tonight, including alternatives for a bypass through the city.
Planning Director Tom Leeson will give a presentation reviewing studies that have been conducted and discussions that have been held in the past, summarize existing plans and explore the city's next steps. Tonight's meeting primarily will serve as an opportunity to educate council members about the issue, but action might not be far behind.
"We're at capacity, and you know you're about to annex a major growth area," said Councilman Towny Anderson, referring to the planned development and annexation of 700 acres west of Steamboat. "I would say it's a priority to increase (vehicle) capacity."
Steamboat 700 developers have preliminary plans to build about 2,000 homes on the west side of the city. Councilman Loui Antonucci agreed that the massive development is one reason transportation and bypass discussions again have found themselves in front of City Council.
"That's probably the impetus that brought it back to the forefront," he said.
Antonucci and Anderson agreed there are significant hurdles to a project such as a bypass. Both acknowledge that the cost of such a project could not be funded by the city or the Colorado Department of Transportation. Also, all bypass alternatives - such as building a road over the top of Howelsen Hill - are sure to have passionate opponents.
"There's no great solution," Antonucci said. "I look at all of those (bypass alternatives), and I don't like any of them."
Anderson said the issue would come down to political will and the sacrifices the community is willing to make to improve transportation. But whatever the outcome, he said something has to be done.
"With west Steamboat and the anticipated growth, we've got a challenge - a huge challenge," Anderson said. "We have to increase capacity; that's the bottom line."
Also Tuesday, council will consider the second reading of an ordinance amending various aspects of the municipal code. At 4 p.m., before its regular meeting, the council will convene as the Steamboat Springs Redevelopment Authority to discuss redevelopment at the base of the Steamboat Ski Area. That meeting will focus primarily on a discussion of vision, goals and needs for vehicle and pedestrian mobility around the base area.
That discussion will include a consultant's presentation of a mobility scheme. An open house for the mobility and transportation presentation precedes the meeting at 3 p.m.
Comments
sbspowderhound 5 years, 8 months ago
Are the RR tracks an option at all? A commuter train with stops in Craig, Hayden, Milner, West Steamboat, Downtown, etc. seems like it could work.
elk2 5 years, 8 months ago
City Council: How about a moratorium on Steamboat 700 until they can help pay for the bypass. Don't rubberstamp this one!!!! You are in the drivers seat. Don't miss an opportunity to do this one right.
sickofitall 5 years, 8 months ago
I say tunnel it under US 40.
bubba 5 years, 8 months ago
I'm not sure the economics of Steamboat 700, but I doubt 2000 people are going to move here just because it is built- I think it will house 2000 people who would otherwise live further from town, but still commute in, so a moratorium there isn't going to stop traffic, but push it out to Milner and Hayden, so they'll get the tax revenues and fuel sales, and we'll get traffic. An express shuttle from 700 to downtown and the mountain makes more sense than a moratorium, as this would truly reduce traffic while increasing the city's tax base. The moratorium will just increase someone elses tax base and our traffic.
I think the commuter rail would make more sense if the bus system ran anywhere close to capacity. Maybe if they let traffic get worse, people will use public transportation, and then it will warrant it, but as is, they operate so far below capacity, I doubt an increase in public transportation capacity will inspire anyone to ride instead of drive.
Keep in mind that a bypass to downtown, while it sounds great, moves people from one end to the other without going into town. While this sounds good on paper, I think most of the traffic is from people going INTO town, so the bypass would really just be for OTR truckers going from Kremling to Craig, and all the commuters would still be creating traffic.
If you really want to reduce traffic in town, make all parking spaces in town 2 bucks an hour with a 2 hour max. This will reduce vehicle trips INTO town, forcing people onto the bus. A bypass is just another way to spend money on something that doesn't address the problem. Obviously, this will never get passed, but a solution to the traffic problem isn't going to make steamboat like it was 10 years ago, it is going to have to be uncomfortable enough to inspire people not to drive.
BAR_UE 5 years, 8 months ago
A little perspective on the myopic Steamboat planners would be helpful. Back in the late 70's, the topic of the bypass was floated with several variations. The battle cry of opposition was that it would KILL downtown, because no one would have a reason to go there any more. They would just take the bypass and keep going to Craig. So no bypass.
Then in the early 80's South Lincoln avenue got widened to four lanes, which helped with traffic relief, but it still was not the bypass solution.
Then a few years later West Lincoln avenue was widened, but not to four lanes. Oh no, we can't afford that, we're only making it two lanes with a center turning lane. This was done because the projected volume of traffic was not enough to warrant four lanes. Not enough business and only those people living in Steamboat II ever go out to that side of town. So again, no bypass and inadequate road infrastructure.
Now Steamboat is paying the price of these myopic decisions from decades ago. Keep this in mind when this discussion gets heated up.
Steamboat decision makers should go over to Park City Utah and take a look at the bypass that was constructed.
You can't put a roadblock up on the pass to keep 'em from coming into town. They will find a way around. The current roadblock is the traffic congestion all year long. Not just the summer. If you build it they will come....and if you don't build it, they will still come and have no place to park.
trollunderthebridge 5 years, 8 months ago
Not just a moratorium on Steamboat 700. How about a 90 Day EMERGENCY Moratorium on all traffic in Steamboat! That seems to be the knee-jerk reaction and way the City Council likes to handle things.
rodcarew 5 years, 8 months ago
Thanks for the bypass history BAR-UE - I wasn't aware of that. It puts into perspective the idea of how the community continues to put off this hard decision. Granted, there are no simple solutions and each comes with a cost, but the problem is not going to simply go away. What did Park City do?
Bubba, I agree with your point about the need to create a reason for people to use public transport, specifically paid parking downtown. On your point about the usefulness of the bypass, I believe that if you create a downtown bypass only (i.e. divert on and off of 40 on either side of downtown), then it will be used by more than just truckers (which, given their noise, would be almost worth it by itself), but also by people commuting from W. Stmboat, Hayden, Craig, etc. to the mountain and folks living on the south side of town to the hardware store, car repair places, and all the service businesses.
Getting trucks and commuters out of downtown can only serve to help downtown business by re-creating a pleasant atmosphere with which to hang out and stroll and shop.
The trick, of course, is the logistics of the downtown bypass. You not only have to deal with the river and railroad, but also a hillside and Howelsen Hill park. The impacts to the latter were the stumbling block when the concept was discussed back in '98. Perhaps, the only politically feasible way to bring a bypass over there is to actually "deck" the road so that you can cover it with park space to alleviate the noise impact to the park.
The costs would be huge, but I got to think that $34 million would put a decent sized dent in it.
id04sp 5 years, 8 months ago
I-70 is elevated for miles in Glenwood Canyon.
Put the bypass right over the top of Lincoln, right through town. Sure, it'll look like He!!, but the town is already ruined anyway.
Or, divert the traffic over the Yampa with two new bridges east and west (or north and south, whatever) of town and put it on the other side of the river where there's still land to expand to four lanes without tearing down a bunch of houses in old town.
housepoor 5 years, 8 months ago
Make Oak St or Yampa St the main shoppingpedestrian areas.
I don't think the City has as much say in what happens on 40 as they think they do?
Jean 5 years, 8 months ago
I agree, elevate over the top of Lincoln, or maybe a tunnel under the whole damn place!! With so much traffic, pedestrians, construction going on, you can't see anything anyway. And yes, downtown looks like crap,what happened to the "Old West"??? Gone west I guess!!!
mtroach 5 years, 8 months ago
"Make Oak St or Yampa St the main shoppingpedestrian areas. I don't think the City has as much say in what happens on 40 as they think they do?"
Currently the city, CDOT, and YOU should be involved in the downtown redevelopment process. There have been articles about the public input sessions, and the public ( LIKE YOU) need to provide input. Get out and attend those sessions, and tell the CODT, and the city's planners, and public works director what you want with regards to US40 in the downtown area. Without public comments otherwise, I think the city and CDOT will expand the lanes downtown, eliminate parking in exchange for thru traffic volume. Lets not attempt to solve the traffic problem by uping the volume between 3rd and 13th with higher speeds and fixing the lights to let the traffic flow.
Dave Moloney 5 years, 8 months ago
A good opportunity was lost with the expansion of the library. Yampa St could have been connected to 13th Street through the existing Library parking lot creating a second east/west route. The part of 13th in front of the library could have been vacated to make room for a redesigned library expansion that could have created a nice campus like layout with the library connected to Elk Park and parking that wouldn't require people to park on one side of 13th and walk across it ot get to tne new library. Instead we'll end up spending massive amounts of money to build a tunnel under Howelson and naming after the council people that caused the problem.
Dave Moloney 5 years, 8 months ago
A good opportunity was lost with the expansion of the library. Yampa St could have been connected to 13th Street through the existing Library parking lot creating a second east/west route. The part of 13th in front of the library could have been vacated to make room for a redesigned library expansion that could have created a nice campus like layout with the library connected to Elk Park and parking that wouldn't require people to park on one side of 13th and walk across it to get to tne new library. Instead we'll end up spending massive amounts of money to build a tunnel under Howelson and naming after the council people that caused the problem.
BAR_UE 5 years, 8 months ago
rodcarew asked what did Park City do? Well they really beefed up US-40 between Heber City and Park City to be a true 4 lane divided mountain road. It connects into I-90 near Park City. In the town there are roads that get around the downtown area without the hassle of the high congestion area. I know their terrain is different than Steamboat, but the access issues are the same.
You don't have to go that far to see how other towns have dealt with traffic management. Look at Craig with one-way roads through the downtown to at least channel traffic volume more efficiently. That could have been done in SBS with Oak and Yampa at one time, but I think it is too late now.
Another nearby town as an example is Highway 13 running south into Rifle. The highway goes around the downtown area, taking the heavy through traffic away from the slower commercial area.
Steamboat's terrain on either side of downtown has always been the problem. Emerald mountain on one side and Copper Ridge on the other with a river and railroad tracks in between. What used to be open fields or vacant lots have now been infilled. Tunnels and elevated roadways are expensive, especially in an area full of SPRINGS. Remember it took Glenwood Canyon project over a decade to finish.
The real solution is to re-route Highway 40 at the base of the pass and go around Emerald Mountain via Cow Creek to the SOUTH and then reconnect with the highway on the West side of town. Just don't hold your breathe waiting for that to happen!
Zalobar 5 years, 8 months ago
No one can go from Pine Grove rd. to Elk River rd or back without hitting 6 red lights. 2 would be plenty. Re-engineer the light sequence. Experiment with using Oak 1 way west and Yampa 1 way east, as simple bypass routs, buy back the 3rd st. ROW and use it. Craig has done this with much success. Make lincoln 2 lane from 4 between 3rd and 12th and increase parking with diaginal slips. Extend 4 lanes past 13th out to NAPA. Merging back to 2 lanes past NAPA. These are simple ideas which have been tossed around since the early 90s. maybe longer. So why hasnt even 1 of these ideas been tried? Lets face it, the retail core on lincoln loves the traffic and they dont really want it to change. All this talk about bypass etc. Is just that, Talk, dont hold your breath waiting for solutions.
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