Information on plans for Boulder Junction, including RTD plans.

Project Overview

The goal of Boulder Junction is to create a mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented place where people will live, work, shop and have access to both local and regional transit. The Transit Village Area Plan guides long-term development at Boulder Junction. The plan is the collective work of the City of Boulder, private property owners, and the Regional Transportation Division (RTD).

Boulder Junction is Boulder’s first Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). Several principles of TOD such as increased density, parking maximums, and unbundled parking for residents are employed to ensure that development falls within the goals of the Transit Village Area Plan. The RTD station located below the Depot Square apartments at Boulder Junction will serve as the hub of transit at the site.

Performance at Boulder Junction is tracked through a Trip Generation Allowance, an ordinance that states how many trips can be generated by the properties at peak hours.

Transportation Demand Management Access District

In 2010, property owners in the Phase 1 area of Boulder Junction, west of the railroad tracks, petitioned City Council to create two overlaying, general improvement districts – one for parking and the other for TDM programs.

These two overlaying general improvement districts allow for the construction, operation and maintenance of public improvements and certain services within the district. Additionally, developers pay Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) fees for the first

two years, after which point property taxes are used to continue funding the benefits outlines in the next section.

Phase 1, the current state of the district, is outlined in the map below.

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Boulder Junction map

Benefits for Employees and Residents

As a resident or employee of Boulder Junction, you will receive special benefits that are paid for by the Boulder Junction Access District.

Benefits include:

  • RTD EcoPass: The RTD EcoPass is an annual transit pass that allows unlimited rides on all local, regional, and light rail services, as well as free service to and from DIA.
  • Boulder B-Cycle Membership: Boulder Junction residents and employees receive 50% off a Republic Rider (Annual) Boulder B-Cycle Pass. This non-profit program provides you access to a network of shared bicycles located at more than 40 stations throughout Boulder. This annual pass includes an unlimited number of 60-minute trips, station to station.
  • CarSharing Membership: New residents and employees of Boulder Junction receive a free application plus $25 in driving credit (a $50 value) when joining eGo CarShare, a local non-profit providing a network of fuel-efficient vehicles in Boulder and Denver.

If you are a resident or employee of Boulder Junction and would like to receive more info about your benefits, visit Boulder Transportation Connections website.

How’s it working?

The City of Boulder has partnered with consulting firm Fox Tuttle Hernandez (FTH) to monitor and track progress within the district toward the city’s TDM and parking management goals.

The city has established a trip generation allowance of 45% for automobile traffic during the highest peak travel times in Boulder Junction. Essentially, this means that the goal of the allowance is for the other 55% of trips to be made by walking, biking, carpooling, transit, or to be completely avoided through telecommuting or compressed work schedules.

Methodology: FTH calculates the total number of trips generated by the existing land uses using the Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) trip generation rates and then comparing the ITE trip total to the total automobile trips observed entering or leaving Boulder Junction. FTH will continue to monitor the results every other year as the district develops.

Results: The latest study conducted by FTH found the automobile trip generation rate for the district to be 58%. Though this is higher than the target of 45%, the results are to be expected given that the mix and density of land uses in the district are not yet complete. You can review the first report.