Golden Vision 2030 --- Blooming in Spring 2013

Not so long ago, thousands of Golden residents came together at block parties, farmers market days, chili socials, and meetings to share their stories, values, and expectations for the future of our hometown. The result was Golden Vision 2030, a collective document designed to promote decisions that protect and enhance Golden throughout the coming decades.

We're not in 2030 yet, but our direction is set and our shared vision is taking shape. This spring, Golden Vision 2030 is our reference point for least two defining moments.

Opening of Light Rail and the Golden Call-n-Ride plus the Start of the Pedestrian Bridge:
Vision 2030 Value Theme A, "We are committed to providing convenient and affordable public transportation and commuter options...and to fostering multi-modal opportunities...." and Value Theme F, "We value access to public...transportation options within and beyond the community." 

Mayor Pro Tem Joe Behm and Councilor Bill Fisher on the First Train Out of Golden

The inaugural weekend was really exciting, but what comes next will be even better. We now have the option of arriving at our destinations by bus, light rail, or a combination of both. Instead of negotiating traffic and worrying about getting to our destination on time, we will be free to visit with each other, read, spend time with our own thoughts, or use our electronic devices safely.

For $2.25 (regular fare, exact change) or $1.10 (discount fare, exact change), we can reserve a trip around town on the Call-n-Ride (call 303-519-9162) or just catch the bus at scheduled stops on its flex route (stops include 10th & Washington, Colorado School of Mines, Golden High School, and the light rail station). More information and maps are available at rtd-denver.com/callnride. The bus plan is a collaborative product of the community, Golden staff, and RTD staff.

The W light rail line will take us much farther afield. Riding the 12.1 miles of track from Golden to downtown Denver will cost us 39 minutes and $4.00 (regular fare, $2 discount fare, credit cards accepted at ticket vending machines). From there, we can enjoy the attractions of downtown or continue on through the RTD system. Regular uses will become savvy about the use of transfers, passes, and 10-ride ticket books. The parking garage by the station has 705 spaces for cars, 6 bike racks, and 12 bike lockers.

The pedestrian bridge across 6th Avenue will allow folks to walk or bicycle from the West side of 6th Avenue to the station. Either lock your bike at the station or take it on the train. Just wait by one of the bike symbols, allow bikeless passengers to exit or board, then board with your bike.The bridge is scheduled to be completed this Fall.

The Golden Plan for the 6/93 Corridor: Golden Vision 2030: Guiding Principle II,"As a community...we will recognize and address the impacts upon us from other communities and region. [T]he community was and is adamant that Golden needs to define its desired future and work to achieve it. The community wants and expects the City to proactively identify... infrastructure patterns and forms and not simply react...."

At the May 9, Golden City Council meeting, Council members will consider approving an agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) that would create a roadmap for transportation projects within our city limits over the coming years and decades.

To recap, last year Golden held community conversations on options for the US 6 and SH 93 corridor. Based on that feedback, City Council directed Golden staff to work with CDOT (the owner and manager of the corridor) to identify potential transportation improvements in Golden that reflect the community’s vision. The staff/CDOT negotiations used Golden's 2003 plan as the starting point for improving transportation within Golden city limits. It was designed to connect neighborhoods, preserve the natural and historic beauty of the area, and keep traffic and noise within reasonable levels.

The recent negotiations led to some changes to the original 2003 Golden plan. These changes would:
• Maintain current speed limits of 45 mph for any future road improvements, except between Heritage and 19th on US 6, which would stay at the current 55 mph limit.
• Leave the section between Heritage Road and 19th Street as is but make the median raised and landscaped, like Johnson Road, to help reduce both speed and noise.
• Prohibit expansion of US 6 to six lanes unless traffic volumes reach no less than 70,000 vehicles per day. Golden’s modeling shows traffic volumes in 2035 of only 31,000 vehicles per day on SH 93 and only as high as 51,000 vehicles per day between 19th Street and Heritage Road.
• Allow for an additional lane in each direction to be managed, with variable tolls or carpool requirements depending on congestion or time of day. There would be at least two free lanes each way on US 6 and one free lane in each direction on SH 93. CDOT has adopted the managed lanes concept statewide for all capacity improvements.

Informed public comment at the May 9 City Council meeting is welcome. Join us for an Open House at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting at 6:30 p.m.in Council Chambers, 911 10th St. If City Council approves this agreement, Golden would immediately apply for funding through CDOT for the US 6 and 19th Street interchange and potentially for widening and noise improvements to SH 93.

City council makes its decisions as a body and in public. However, I personally intend to support the plan unless some new evidence or argument emerges at the council meeting. While staff has been hard at work reaching design solutions, I (along with many other councilors) have been talking to regional and state officials. From those talks, we have learned that we have a unique window in time to do exactly what Golden Vision 2030 expects of us -- to shape our own transportation future rather than having a standard regional design imposed on us.

For details on the plan visit www.GetTheFactsGolden.org or call me at 303-279-0088.

Marathoners in our Hearts

There are so many runners in Golden who know firsthand that a marathon finish line is the ultimate scene of human triumph. The rest of us, particularly sloggers (like me), can only imagine how special it would be to see the finish line and cheering friends and family come into view. The blasts that shook the Boston Marathon yesterday have shattered our images of this celebratory tableau. This year's race will be forever remembered as a dark and sad day for Boston, the running community, and the country as a whole.

A bright spot, though, was provided by the quick, brave, and kind reactions of first responders. bystanders, and residents. Police, firefighters, medical personnel, and volunteers rushed to help out. Boston hospitals gave textbook perfect care to the wounded. Bostonians opened their homes to those stranded in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Some of us have very personal connections to the event, the runners, or the victims. All of us mourn for the lives lost and damaged by a deranged act of terror. I hope that Golden will never experience a tragic event of any magnitude. I know, though, that when presented with a crisis situation, Golden's first responders and residents will demonstrate the same characteristics on display in Boston yesterday.

We will hold Boston's victims in our heart. And we will be confident of two things: (1) the perpetrator will be brought to justice and (2) there will be a Boston marathon next year.

The 2012 start line

Beltway Groundhog Day -- NOT

"What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?" Phil Connors (Bill Murray)

A recent email post seemed to compare Golden's efforts to protect the neighborhoods along the 6/93 corridor, enhance connectivity, and reduce noise to the movie "Groundhog Day." The truth is far from "here we go again." Golden has been obtaining regional recognition that a road through Golden must respect our unique characteristics even though the special design would multiply normal construction costs. In other words -- Golden is worth the extra investment that its residents want.

Golden's and CDOT's technical staffs have worked together on a practical, on-the ground solutions in a way that elected officials cannot. With the Muller Plan as a starting point and protecting Golden as a goal, they came up with an engineering concept that meets Golden's needs and also accommodates regional traffic. For Sixth Avenue, it contemplates a four-lane parkway with an inviting double-wide car/bike/ped bridge at 19th street and grade separation at Heritage road. For 93 it includes a parklike lid near Mitchell School and grade-separated interchanges along a four-lane parkway. By realigning the highway closer to the hogback, it moves traffic and noise away from most North Golden neighborhoods and accommodates sound mitigation for Mountain Ridge.

Of course, there are always trade-offs in life. The "Groundhog" email mentioned only the conceivable down sides, especially those that are unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future. 

Significant compromises include:

(1) keeping present posted speed limits of 45 miles per hour on most of the route but 55 miles per hour between 19th and Heritage. Golden wanted speeds of 45 miles per hour through town; CDOT wanted 55 miles per hour  .

(2) building the roadway at four lanes, but intersection improvements with the capacity to accommodate six in the future. CDOT wanted six lanes. Golden, of course, wants four. The compromise would allow widening if traffic reached 75,000 vehicles per day -- a figure that our projections show will probably never be reached and, if reached, would result in so much congestion that another solution would have to be found.

(3) conceding the potential for "managing" or tolling new lanes. The not "sugar-coated" fact is that the City of Golden's position on managed lanes will have little effect on this controversy --  which is hotly debated in the transportation community throughout our region, state, and nation. In the Denver area, there are either commitments or discussions about tolling lanes on US 36, C-470, the replacement for elevated I-70, and the tunnel at Idaho Springs. Here is a link to CDOT's managed lanes policy directive: http://www.coloradodot.info/about/governmentrelations/news-publications/policy-briefs/cdot-s-managed-lanes-policy-directive/view.

And the "Groundhog" email did not address the very real risk that, without Golden's cooperation, CDOT will return to its much cheaper superslab design for a highway through Golden. And further "just say no" actions can  squander the hard-earned goodwill of our legislators and neighboring jurisdictions. As a result, we could not count on them to help us fend off legislation stripping away our local control. 

There is no pending deadline for either Golden or CDOT to formally accept the plan's vision. There is, however, an upcoming chance to take advantage of CDOT "RAMP" funding. This accelerated funding could help finance improvements that enhance residents' quality of life through connectivity, safety, aesthetics, and noise reduction. A council meeting on the plan is scheduled for May 9 -- and we'll provide you with much more information as the time nears. 

To close with a paraphrase from "Groundhog Day," tomorrow is happening. 

On tomorrow's schedule: Clear Creek walk and gun violence hearing

Meeting at Vanover Park at 4:30 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, February 12) and walking along the creek with other councilors and interested residents will be a great way to prepare for the Clear Creek Management meeting at the community center at 5:30 pm. I expect to be there to share comments and observations. But if I'm late, I hope a large group showed up and went ahead without me.

I may be delayed because I am attending another important meeting. At the State Capital, the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives will hold a hearing on House Bill 1229, which requires background checks on almost all gun purchases. I'm scheduled to testify in favor of this bill, and it's difficult to predict how late the hearing will go.

In October, the Golden City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of this constitutional, reasonable way of curbing gun violence. Council's position is in accord with the overwhelming majority of voters in Colorado. According to a Denver Post poll conducted last month the proposal is supported by 85% of Coloradans. 

Background checks are a proven, systematic way to stop felons, domestic abusers, and the dangerously  mentally ill from buying firearms. Last year in Colorado, background checks stopped 5,832 prohibited purchasers from obtaining a gun. Right now, though, only licensed dealers and sellers at gun shows are required to run background checks. Private sales, up to 40% of gun transfers, are governed by a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

This loophole is an enormous public safety problem.  A national survey of inmates found that nearly 80% of those who used a gun in a crime acquired it from a private seller. 

I recognize closing the loophole will not prevent every gun crime--no law can do that. And I understand that there are many other essential measures -- supporting education and mental health care, to name just two.

Yet passage of HB 1229 will keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, reducing gun violence and making Coloradans -- young and old -- safer in our homes, streets, schools, shopping areas, and movie theaters. And universal background checks do not affect any individual's Second Amendment rights or create a registry of gun owners. 

It's too late to stop the pain and bereavement of the many families already affected by gun violence. But we can help prevent future tragedies -- a goal that all of us share. I appreciate the opportunity to represent the position of Golden City Council and the majority of Golden residents on background checks. I also encourage all readers to add their voices to the state and national conversation by contacting our state and federal elected officials.

MultiModal Golden: Light Rail, Pedestrian Bridge, Clear Creek Management

The train is coming down the track. The "W Rail" will connect Golden with Lakewood, Denver and beyond, easing traffic congestion and reducing air pollution. Grand opening day ceremonies at the Jeffco.Golden station are scheduled on Friday, April 26 and a day-long station party on Saturday, April 27. If you can't just can't wait to take a traffic-jam-proof trip downtown, click on this video for flyover travel between Union Station  and Golden.  http://www.rtd-fastracks.com/wc_157.

And -- at last -- Golden has cleared the way for construction of our pedestrian bridge linking both sides of West Sixth Avenue at the W Rail station. We secured federal funding for this project back in March 2011 because it received high scores for potential user base, safety, multimodal connectivity, reduction in Vehicle Miles Traveled, and pollutant reduction. We added amounts from RTD and the City for full funding. The Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, however, had to sign off on the project because the county owns property at the bridge landing areas. Just this week, we elicited the Commissioners' agreement. Though there are still formalities to complete before the start of construction, the walking or cycling journey from the Heritage Road neighborhoods or businesses to the station or the Taj will be much safer, quicker, and more pleasant by mid-summer.

Talk of summer brings to mind enjoyment of the Clear Creek Corridor during the coming warm days. This is the ultimate multimodal throughway -- walkers, runners, cyclists, and kayakers all share this space. As you will recall, last year's high-season use was unprecedented. This year, the City is working with the National Park Service to develop a management plan through a public engagement process, starting with an open house at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 12 at the community center. Just before the open house, you are invited to walk the creek with city councilors, sharing observations and ideas as we proceed toward the community center. Round up your family and friends and meet us in Vanover Park around 4:30 p.m. for a walking audit. We'll reach fresh perceptions about creekside conditions -- and get some of our fitness steps in at the same time.