The lack of a North-South-trending Functional Safe Multi-use trail in West Arvada has been a problem for the last several decades and is now becoming a huge safety issue due to all of the Council-endorsed and Council-approved housing developments in Northwest Arvada resulting in huge population growth in the area. A bike path was haphazardly patched together on Simms Street with a few on-road bike signs and a narrow bike lane, but it adds miles to any West Arvada commute and it's dangerous. The nearest alternative is Indiana Street where the underpass under the railroad is treacherous and a 77 year old man was recently killed riding his bike nearby. 

These groups would benefit from using our tax dollars to implement a North-South-trending paved pedestrian pathway in West Arvada to offer a safe link between the new Hwy 36 bike trail, the Dry Creek Trail, the Ralston Creek Trail, the Van Bibber and the Clear Creek Trail which are all East-West-trending:

1. Cyclists
2. Equestrian users (who currently can’t safely get across Indiana to access any trails to the West and can’t access trails to the East due to canals and no bridge access)
3. Motorists who don't want to hit cyclists
4. Families with children who are learning to bike and other novice riders
5. Families on bikes with children in chariots
6. Senior users who need to use recumbent bikes (like the one who was killed)
7. Pedestrians/runners
8. Commuters
9. Ralston Valley High School students (some of whom currently walk across the danigerous railroad tracks to access RVHS).
10. Dog walkers
11. Pedestrians with disabilities who can’t drive

Currently all of these users are competing with motorists for space on the unimproved two lane thoroughfares, Quaker St, Indiana St and Simms St. The lack of a Multi-Modal trail system that trends North to South in Arvada is a major oversight in the development of Arvada trail systems and inhibits safely linking regional trail systems. Given how much money our city spent to make the G line happen, it should be paramount to prioritize developing safe pedestrian pathways to access these public transportation options. We need Functional not just Recreational multi-use pathways in Arvada (which tend to follow East-West trending streams and rivers). Given the increasing congestion in this area and the safety hazards, this should be the City's top priority.

Our state is one of the most active in the country. All ages chose to move here and pay taxes in our City in order to enjoy the wonderful outdoor recreation opportunities our area has to offer.  We can do better by Arvada residents.

The four North-South-Trending trail options proposed are, in order from West to East:

1. A safe multi-use trail paralleling Hwy 93 separated from the high speed traffic

2. Most direct: Indiana Street from Hwy 128 to 64th Ave (If further testing showed excavating surface soil to be low risk for human health). The costly challenge is widening Indiana under the railway, but that is likely the most practical and safe way to cross the rail line. 

3. 82nd Ave/Quaker Street/64th Ave/Easley Road (Easley Alternative is McIntyre St)

4. Simms St/West 100th Ave/Alkire Street (railroad crossing needed to link with South Alkire Street to Beech Street)/then expand Indiana St south of the Railroad Crossing, avoiding disturbance near Rocky Flats.

This area is complicated due to mixed ownership, discontinuous roads, the nuclear waste site Rocky Flats, and the railroad. But there are still thousands of cyclists and pedestrians on our unimproved roads and we need to focus on developing a safe, functional North-South-Trending multi-modal trail system 

Note: While the new costly Rocky Mountain Greenway Trail system trends south-East to North-West and skirts the East side of Standley Lake, it is not paved, and does not have a link to trails further west (though the plan is eventually to bring it from Rocky Mountain Arsenal to Two Ponds Preserve, North of Rocky Flats, then up to Estes Park). Currently cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians are traveling on Alkire west of Standley Lake, which has no berm and several blind rolling hills. If Option 4 was implemented, it would serve four purposes including 1) protecting Rocky Mountain Greenway trail users and 2) providing a safe, functional continuous North-South Trending multi-modal trail 3) providing a safe crossing for school children who currently walk across the tracks to get to school and 4) avoid soil disturbance at Rocky Flats.

Finally, an underpass under Indiana to link the many disjointed neighborhoods in our area is desperately needed. An underpass would allow families in the adjacent neighborhoods to drop kids at school via bike and reduce traffic congestion and accidents at peak hours (note: an aerial survey showed the intersection at Hwy 72 and Indiana to be one of the most dangerous in the city due to motorists turning east off of Indiana pulling into oncoming traffic before the turn lane during peak hours). It would also allow people recreating or commuting to link other regional trail systems safely such as the newly built Rocky Mountain Greenway Trail including the many equestrians based out of the indoor and outdoor equestrian centers on Indiana.

Summary: A paved multi-use pathway adequately separated from traffic so that users can link regional trail systems in Boulder and Westminster North of Arvada to the hundreds of miles of trails that converge in Golden and Wheatridge would be extensively used and offer an alternative to motor vehicle transportation, thus providing a viable congestion reduction option.

Local, State and Federal Partnership Needed:  Parts of the west side of Indiana Street are in unincorporated Jefferson County. The parts of Indiana that are in the City of Arvada are:  64th to 75th - entrance near Saddlebrook estates, a small stretch just north of 80th to just south of the railroad bridge, and 300 ft north of the railroad bridge North all the way to the light at 96th. Quaker Street from 64th to 72nd and 60th to 64th on Easley Street are also within Arvada city boundaries.

The segment of Indiana from 64th Ave to 86th Parkway is state Hwy 72 and is controlled by CDOT not the City of Arvada. This is the part of Indiana Street where the fatal accident occurred this past week (between 77th and 80th on Indiana). Thus a partnership between the City of Arvada, CDOT and the Federally controlled Railroad is needed to improve this dangerous congested corridor.

Conclusion: We can expect, given the thousands of active cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians in Arvada, that our death toll will be rising quickly if immediate action isn’t taken. Arvada bills itself as a city where people can work and live a healthy lifestyle. Let’s make sure that continues to be a true assertion.