Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan | Accessible and Connected

The city and county work together to ensure urban development is focused within Area 1-Urban Lands to utilize existing urban services, maintain a clear boundary between urban and rural areas and avoid patterns of leapfrog, non-contiguous, scattered development within the Boulder Valley. The city encourages redevelopment and infill within municipal boundaries alongside consideration of managed expansion of the Service Area, as allowed by Area 2-Urban Edge and the Area 3-Planning Reserve, to create a compact city and prevent the negative consequences of urban sprawl.

The city aligns land use and transportation planning to integrate a variety of neighborhoods with a range of uses into a well-connected, safe, local and regional network of mobility choices. The city supports higher activity near multimodal corridors and transit centers that provide enhanced mobility choices and facilities. The city and county collaborate on transit investments and improvements so that local and regional transit systems are well integrated.

The city preserves and manages greenways to manage and mitigate flooding, support multifunctional landscapes and ecosystem services, protect cultural resources and offer passive recreation and off-street multi-use transportation amenities.

The city supports and encourages spaces, programs and institutions throughout the city that offer social places for interpersonal connections, belonging, well-being and community cohesion for people of all cultures, generations, incomes, backgrounds and abilities. The city recognizes the value of social infrastructure to build community resilience and wellness.

The city supports and facilitates the development of convenient, affordable and secure communications and data infrastructure and other improvements that serve the community, help businesses thrive and grow, foster the growth of emerging communications and data industries and support emergency systems. The city will collaborate with providers and community partners to expand access, reduce digital divides and ensure that infrastructure is adaptable to future innovations.

The city and county design a transportation system that prioritizes an enjoyable, safe, fun and community-centered experience for members of the traveling public of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. It will focus on elevating the Boulder Valley as a pleasant, affordable and convenient place to move around by all modes of transportation to ensure our community remains connected physically, socially and economically.

The city and county provide varied, reliable transportation choices to create an equitable, integrated and complete multimodal system that enables people who do not drive to fully participate in community life and access daily needs. The innovative planning, design, operation and maintenance of Boulder’s transportation system focuses on improving walking, rolling, bicycling, scooting, taking transit, riding micromobility and driving with a focus on moving people. The city and county collaborate to provide seamless connections between local and regional transportation facilities, programs and services, including trails, transit and Transportation Demand Management programs.

The city and county prioritize safety when investing in the transportation system and pursuing Vision Zero. Vision Zero aims to reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries to zero. The city uses a holistic, data-driven approach to identify safety risks and proactively implement improvements to reduce risk and improve crash outcomes. Safety is prioritized in investments, project design, project delivery and programs, such as Safe Routes to School.

The city and county will ensure that its transportation system is innovative and when new technologies are introduced, they positively align with community values. This includes adjusting policies, expanding investments, adapting to new technologies and adopting innovative approaches while ensuring progress supports safety and equity.

The city and county promote the safe and reliable movement of goods, packages and freight to support the needs of local businesses and community members while supporting electrification and other innovations to address the environmental impact of goods movement activity.

The city designs, builds and maintains infrastructure that withstands and recovers from disasters and disruptions, such as extreme weather events or socioeconomic challenges. Infrastructure is built to contribute to long-term sustainability goals while incorporating measures to enhance resilience to shocks and stresses.

The city manages curbside space and parking, where appropriate, as a shared and limited public resource to support safe, equitable access for a wide range of users and essential curbside needs. Approaches will be tailored to the unique context of each area and designed to support and encourage a complete multimodal system.

The city and county work to provide trail and path systems with connectivity to the regional network and neighboring communities. The city and county coordinate with each other, other providers and private landowners in trail and path system planning, design, construction, management, maintenance and programming. Trail and path connections will be developed to enhance local access and overall function of the network.