Neighborhood Speed Management Program
What is the Neighborhood Speed Management Program?
The Neighborhood Speed Management Program (NSMP) program is part of the City of Boulder’s prioritization of safe transportation. The city strives to keep its streets, sidewalks and paths safe for all modes of transportation. NSMP implements engineering, education and enforcement to slow speeding traffic on residential streets. This program supports Vision Zero, the city’s goal to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries.
The NSMP accepts applications from community members year-round. More information on planned and implemented projects, as well as how to apply and application status is below.
2020 NSMP Projects
Staff is installing the simple projects listed below. The projects will be installed by the end of Fall 2020. Please click on the links below to review project plans.
- Boulder Meadows Planned Speed Humps
- Evergreen Ave. Planned Speed Hump
- Ithaca Dr. Planned Speed Humps
- Pawnee Dr. Planned Speed Humps
- South 40th St. Planned Speed Humps
- South 44th St. Planned Speed Humps
- Upland Ave. Planned Chicane Experiment
Comment here on any of the projects above.
Staff is completing final design on the 26th Street and 55th Street NSMP Projects. Stay tuned for updates!
View the Inside Boulder News segment on NSMP completed projects
Projects
Latest information:
- View the preliminary complex and simple project lists from the 2019 application cycle
- TAB will finalized the list of recommend prioritized projects following a public hearing on Dec. 9
- View the recommended NSMP project list
In September 2019 staff installed speed humps on 37th Street, 55th Street, South 41st Street, South 46th Street, Grinnell Avenue and Kalmia Avenue. Additionally, a radar speed display sign was installed on Hawthorn Avenue. These projects were prioritized by the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) in 2018 and 2019 as NSMP Simple Projects.
Following a February 2019 recommendation from TAB to proceed with the top two projects on the NSMP Complex Project list , staff began planning the 26th Street (between Kalmia Avenue and Jay Road) and 55th Street (between Baseline Road and Sioux Drive) projects in May 2019.
26th Street Recommended Design
Please review the:
- Recommended Design for the 26th Street NSMP Project (Kalmia Avenue to Norwood Avenue)
and the
- Recommended Design for the 26th Street NSMP Project (Norwood Avenue to Jay Road)
.
55th Street Recommended Design

Review Information from the Three Neighborhood Meetings
The first two of three neighborhood meetings for both projects included information on the NSMP, planning process and timeline, and the existing conditions.
- 26th Street NSMP Project Neighborhood Meeting 1 (held May 15): Review the Existing Conditions Map for 26th Street between Kalmia Avenue and Norwood Avenue
and the Existing Conditions Map for 26th Street between Norwood Avenue and Jay Road.
- 26th Street NSMP Project Neighborhood Meeting 2 (held July 17): Review the:
- Alternative 1: and speed cushions between Norwood Avenue and Jay Road
,
- Alternative 2: Medians between Kalmia Avenue and Norwood Avenue
and medians between Norwood Avenue and Jay Road
.
- View a matrix of considerations
for the two alternatives.
- Alternative 1: and speed cushions between Norwood Avenue and Jay Road
- 26th Street Neighborhood Meeting #3 (held Sept. 19): Review the recommended design and comment above. View the meeting materials
here.
- 55th Street NSMP Project Neighborhood Meeting 1 (held May 16): Review the Existing Conditions Map.
- 55th Street NSMP Project Neighborhood Meeting 2 (held Jul. 11): Review the:
- speed cushions alternative
- and chicanes alternative
.
- View a matrix of considerations
for the two alternatives.
- speed cushions alternative
- 55th Street Neighborhood Meeting #3 (held Sept. 18): Review the recommended design and comment above. View the meeting materials
here.
Northern Boundary Extended for the 26th Street Project
After receiving feedback from the first neighborhood meeting and an application from residents on 26th Street between Norwood Avenue and Jay Road, the 26th Street NSMP Project boundaries were extended to address speeding on 26th Street between Jay Road and Kalmia Avenue.
Application
City staff accepts NSMP applications year-round and evaluates them on an annual basis. The next deadline for application evaluation will be in late spring 2020. Please use the links on the upper right-hand corner of the page to access the online application and neighborhood petition.
Here are a few key pointers:
-
Only residential and collector streets are eligible for participation in the program. Eligible streets are in black and blue on theCity of Boulder Street Classifications
map.
-
All applications requesting engineering treatments (such as speed humps and traffic circles) must include a neighborhood petition
with signatures from 20 neighbors or 30 percent of households on the same block, whichever is less.
-
Staff will review and rank applications requesting engineering treatments based on the criteria laid out in the NSMP final guidelines
. All applicants will be notified of the ranking. Staff will then present a list of prioritized projects to the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) for review.
-
Projects with engineering treatments will be categorized as "simple" or "complex."
-
Simple projects are those that are expected to have a localized impact on reducing speeds, address speeding issues on a short segment of a non-critical emergency response route and have little effect on traffic diversion. They are also anticipated to cost less than or around $15,000. Simple projects will be implemented by staff after a recommendation by the Transportation Advisory Board.
-
Complex projects may include impacts to neighboring streets or other travel modes, be located on a designated critical emergency response route and cost more than $15,000. Complex projects must receive a recommendation to proceed from the Transportation Advisory Board and must also be approved by City Council.
-
-
All applicants are eligible to receive educational materials and enforcement in their neighborhood.
You can read the final guidelines and review public feedback
about the guidelines from the June TAB meeting. You can also view higher resolution versions of the Critical Emergency Response Routes
(Attachment A) and City of Boulder Street Classifications
map (Attachment B).
You can also sign up for NSMP Email Alerts.
If you’ve applied for the NSMP and would like to know the status of your application, look below for the date you submitted your application to find out its status.
-
If you submitted an application by Nov. 24, 2017 , and staff categorized your project as a simple project, your application has been reviewed and the evaluation completed. Staff has installed most of the approved projects
and will complete all projects by the end of 2019.
-
If you submitted an application by Nov. 24, 2017, and staff categorized your project as a complex project, your application is currently on the NSMP Complex Project list
. Staff began planning the top two projects on the list in May 2019.
-
If you submitted an application between April 27, 2018, and May 31, 2019, staff is currently evaluating your application. Applications that qualify for engineering will be prioritized by TAB at the November and December 2019 meetings.
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Applications submitted after May 31, 2019, will be evaluated beginning in May 2020.
Staff email regular updates to all applicants with updates on the program and what to expect in the coming months. Sign up to receive email updates.