Construction detours « coloradobikemaps

US 36 Bikeway + Little Dry Creek Trail Update

Several people have asked me about riding to Boulder via the newly-opened US 36 Bikeway and over the past weekend I finally had time to check out the construction on the new commuter rail line that’s been creating havoc along Little Dry Creek and Clear Creek Trails for the past 2 years. What I discovered was both promising and disappointing. The good news first. The Northwest Rail B-Line is nearly complete and is scheduled to open on July 26, 2016. When all the work is complete, there will be a newly reconstructed trail along Little Dry Creek between 64th Ave and Lowell Blvd and near the intersection of 72nd Ave and Braeburn Blvd which is the north-south access between Little Dry Creek and the beginning of the US 36 bikeway. There is also going to be a new spur south of Clear Creek Trail which will take cyclists to the Federal Blvd station of the Gold Line.

The bad news: (1) the work to date on Little Dry Creek has created several hazardous underpasses that will regularly flood and for which there is no easy by-pass above the grade of the creek. When these are not flooded, they will require constant maintenance to sweep out the mud and sand that accumulates after every rain storm, and judging by current conditions, Adams County is not up to the task. (2) Even with the scheduled opening of of the B-Line, it sure does not look as if the trail between 64th and Lowell Blvd is going to open very soon. There is a lot of landscaping work still to be done between Federal and Lowell and there is also a large CDOT project reconstructing the bridge over Little Dry Creek at Federal Blvd. (3) The detour signing along the closed portions of Little Dry Creek is non-existent or inadequate. From the southeast, there are no signs indicating the trail is closed until you run smack into a concrete barrier north of 64th Ave. From the northwest there are the beginnings of a posted detour, but they led me astray, routing me south along Lowell Blvd without ever turning me east back towards Little Dry Creek. I cannot do much about (1) or (2), but I did work out a passable detour, along 64th, Irving, and 68th Ave between Lowell Blvd and the start of Little Dry Creek. It works pretty well, save the time you have to ride along 64th Ave which carries significant truck traffic. There’s also a sketcher version I checked out from Little Dry Creek Trail after the second underpass. It routes you along a dirt and gravel road to 68th Ave, then north and west across Federal to Lowell Blvd. It’s doable, but not for most cyclists.

The photo below is from the Federal Bridge looking northwest, with the new Little Dry Creek Trail beckoning.

This is the unexpected barrier you’ll encounter if you ride along Little Dry Creek expecting to be able to reach the US 36 Bikeway.

And finally, This shot shows some of the work being completed on thrnew bridge project along Federal Boulvard. That work has just begun and is not expected to be completed until July 2017. Feel free to drop the CDOT communications manager a note asking CDOT to provide and post an adequate detour around the work that CDOT is doing.