On Tuesday, February 27, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. at the Nederland Community Center, Town staff, officials, and community stakeholders met with representatives of Fehr & Peers to review and discuss their work being conducted on the Multimodal Transportation Plan (MTP).

The Town of Nederland was awarded funding for the MTP from the Denver Regional Council of Governments as part of their Fiscal Year 2022-2025 Transportation Improvement Program. A Request for Proposal was released on April 25, 2023.

Mayor Billy Giblin was authorized by the Board of Trustees (BOT) to sign a contract agreement with Fehr & Peers on June 6, 2023.

Fehr & Peers defines a MTP as a way to “help local governments create an equitable transportation system that aligns with community goals and objectives in the medium to long-term” while focusing on “surface transportation including walking, bicycling, transit, and motor vehicle travel.”

The MTP is also a crucial component mentioned within theTown’s Strategic Plan 2023 - 2024, under Objective #3, which states that the BOT will “Promote orderly, sustainable and resilient development in the Town through thoughtful, engaged and equitable planning processes.”

The MTP is expected to be completed by July, 2024, with its completion directly affecting Objective #4: “Continue modernizing the Town’s infrastructure to reduce public safety risks, promote economic growth and improve the quality of life for our residents.”

The February 27 meeting was intended for Charlie Alexander and Carly Sieff of Fehr & Peers to share the findings of Phase I of their overall plan, which focused primarily on data collection on Nederland’s existing conditions and on community outreach. From that data, guiding principles and draft recommendations were formed, which Fehr & Peers presented on February 27 in order to elicit feedback.

As for the existing conditions, Fehr & Peers gathered data on Nederland’s traffic patterns, posted speed limits, and the level of stress for drivers and pedestrians. They also mapped the Town’s sidewalks and pedestrian and bicycle trails. The data also highlighted crash patterns, with the most concentrated area being the roundabout.

Fehr & Peers engaged with the community by attending local events and by releasing an online survey. Sieff noted that they engaged with up to 300 Nederland residents. The biggest concerns reported by the community were about the state of the Town’s crosswalks and sidewalks, and the maintenance of the Town’s roads.

The guiding principles presented were a focus on sustainability, and to make driving, bicycling, and walking through Nederland safe and reliable.

As a result of these actions, Alexander and Sieff recommended adding flashing crosswalk signs at the Nederland Community Library and at the Visitor’s Center, providing uniform sidewalks across downtown, formalizing the Town’s current informal community trails, identifying and confirming a location for a second bridge across the creek, and replacing the roundabout with a traffic signal.

Fehr & Peers also provided recommendations for how to better mitigate transit and parking concerns, including instituting an in-town shuttle for those with mobility concerns, increasing access to Eldora, adding RTD bus stop amenities, increasing regional transportation, adding more parking enforcement and paid parking, and investigating the possibility of RTD constructing a parking garage on their current lot.

Those in attendance provided their feedback to the recommendations, spending much of the time talking about the roundabout and the second bridge. Some stated that traffic lights have never been considered to fit with Nederland’s aesthetic and would negatively affect residents in any effort to mitigate tourist traffic.

Property owner Ron Mitchell’s preliminary Planned Unit Development application notes the possibility of an easement on his property at 100 East 1st Street for a bridge across the creek. When asked at the meeting if he would consider the bridge to be open to vehicular traffic year round, Mitchell stated he was open to whatever use of the bridge the community required.

Fehr & Peers will return in the Spring with refined recommendations, including policies to be implemented, and will continue with community engagement through the summer.