BDU and the Andrus bike path
Another way the FAA thwarts local control in Boulder County
BDU actually controls more land than that provided by the city.
If you live in Gunbarrel you might have wondered about those weird bike path segments to nowhere around 61st and 63rd streets between Jay Road and Valmont.
For an explanation of these stranded bike paths, see this Open Space Board of Trustees agenda of August, 2021. (The following is even more significant, given the cancellation of the 205 bus route to eastern Gunbarrel, leaving residents there with no form of public transportation.). https://bouldercolorado.gov/media/4844/download?inline
Summary: OSMP is trying to build the Andrus Road to Airport Road Multi-Use Path to connect Gunbarrel to the City. This link has been recognized as important since the 1980’s and is intended, among other things, to help people without cars. OSMP designed the route to have minimal environmental impact, integrate with the landscape, and meet other constraints. As the project progressed, it was recognized that, even though it’s not on airport property, the route intersects part of BDU’s Runway Protection Zone (RPZ). The FAA denied OSMP an exception to allow them to build the path as planned. Thus, OSMP must reroute the path they designed in order to not violate the grant requirements, at extra expense and environmental impact.
BDU actually controls more land than that provided by the city.
If you live in Gunbarrel you might have wondered about those weird bike path segments to nowhere around 61st and 63rd streets between Jay Road and Valmont.
For an explanation of these stranded bike paths, see this Open Space Board of Trustees agenda of August, 2021. (The following is even more significant, given the cancellation of the 205 bus route to eastern Gunbarrel, leaving residents there with no form of public transportation.). https://bouldercolorado.gov/media/4844/download?inline
Summary: OSMP is trying to build the Andrus Road to Airport Road Multi-Use Path to connect Gunbarrel to the City. This link has been recognized as important since the 1980’s and is intended, among other things, to help people without cars. OSMP designed the route to have minimal environmental impact, integrate with the landscape, and meet other constraints. As the project progressed, it was recognized that, even though it’s not on airport property, the route intersects part of BDU’s Runway Protection Zone (RPZ). The FAA denied OSMP an exception to allow them to build the path as planned. Thus, OSMP must reroute the path they designed in order to not violate the grant requirements, at extra expense and environmental impact.
The FAA controls the air, the airport, and the land around the airport. Land owners and residents be damned.
Some quotes:
"The Andrus Road to Airport Road Multi-Use Path project is one of three City of Boulder transportation connections identified in the area of the confluence of Boulder Creek, South Boulder Creek and Fourmile Canyon Creek (Confluence Area), and the first of three discrete path projects to be built. The Andrus to Airport Multi-Use Path will provide a much-needed multimodal connection between Gunbarrel and the city. This missing link in the City and County off‐street trail system has been identified since the 1980s in the City of Boulder’s Transportation Master Plan (TMP) and was flagged as a priority in 2010, initiating stakeholder design conversations. The goal is to connect Gunbarrel with the network of Boulder Multi-Use Paths by linking the existing path along the west side of 63rd Street in Gunbarrel to the existing path at Airport Road.
"Phase 2 construction is currently on hold and is intended to complete the connection of the path between Gunbarrel and Boulder’s urban center. Approximately 1,400 feet of the path’s currently proposed alignment (out of 5,190 feet total), all within Phase 2, is located within the RPZ of the Boulder Municipal Airport which was found to overlay the 2.75 acres of city open space disposed of for the purpose of the path. City staff from OSMP, the City Attorney’s Office and the Transportation & Mobility Department, along with an outside counsel attorney, appealed to the FAA to allow construction of this segment of path within the RPZ. The FAA ultimately denied this appeal, citing that the path was considering a “new, incompatible use within the RPZ [...] and create a hazard to people and property.” The only way for the project to move forward successfully at this juncture is along a new alignment outside of the RPZ, which would place it further south into the Open Space property."
From the FAA
"Specifically, the proposal is contrary to the FAA’s Interim Guidance on Land Uses Within a Runway Protection Zone, dated September 27, 2012. The proposal to add a multi-use path within the RPZ is considered a new, incompatible use within the RPZ that does not currently exist. As proposed, the path would run through the entire RPZ. The proposed multi-use path would create a hazard to people and property on the ground that does not exist today. As such, we object to the proposal to construct the multi-use path through the RPZ."
"The FAA understands and recognizes that the intent of this proposal is an attempt to fix the encumbrances associated with Tract 13, however, the City of Boulder, as the airport sponsor, has the responsibility to comply with all grant assurances. The encumbrance on Tract 13 is not consistent with Grant Assurances No. 5, Preserving Rights and Powers nor No. 22 Compatible Land Use.
Some quotes:
"The Andrus Road to Airport Road Multi-Use Path project is one of three City of Boulder transportation connections identified in the area of the confluence of Boulder Creek, South Boulder Creek and Fourmile Canyon Creek (Confluence Area), and the first of three discrete path projects to be built. The Andrus to Airport Multi-Use Path will provide a much-needed multimodal connection between Gunbarrel and the city. This missing link in the City and County off‐street trail system has been identified since the 1980s in the City of Boulder’s Transportation Master Plan (TMP) and was flagged as a priority in 2010, initiating stakeholder design conversations. The goal is to connect Gunbarrel with the network of Boulder Multi-Use Paths by linking the existing path along the west side of 63rd Street in Gunbarrel to the existing path at Airport Road.
"Phase 2 construction is currently on hold and is intended to complete the connection of the path between Gunbarrel and Boulder’s urban center. Approximately 1,400 feet of the path’s currently proposed alignment (out of 5,190 feet total), all within Phase 2, is located within the RPZ of the Boulder Municipal Airport which was found to overlay the 2.75 acres of city open space disposed of for the purpose of the path. City staff from OSMP, the City Attorney’s Office and the Transportation & Mobility Department, along with an outside counsel attorney, appealed to the FAA to allow construction of this segment of path within the RPZ. The FAA ultimately denied this appeal, citing that the path was considering a “new, incompatible use within the RPZ [...] and create a hazard to people and property.” The only way for the project to move forward successfully at this juncture is along a new alignment outside of the RPZ, which would place it further south into the Open Space property."
From the FAA
"Specifically, the proposal is contrary to the FAA’s Interim Guidance on Land Uses Within a Runway Protection Zone, dated September 27, 2012. The proposal to add a multi-use path within the RPZ is considered a new, incompatible use within the RPZ that does not currently exist. As proposed, the path would run through the entire RPZ. The proposed multi-use path would create a hazard to people and property on the ground that does not exist today. As such, we object to the proposal to construct the multi-use path through the RPZ."
"The FAA understands and recognizes that the intent of this proposal is an attempt to fix the encumbrances associated with Tract 13, however, the City of Boulder, as the airport sponsor, has the responsibility to comply with all grant assurances. The encumbrance on Tract 13 is not consistent with Grant Assurances No. 5, Preserving Rights and Powers nor No. 22 Compatible Land Use.