UFR TPR March 6th, 2025 Meeting Minutes

Larimer County Administration Building - Boyd Lake Conference Room

200 West Oak Street, Fort Collins, CO 80522

Attendance

WELD COUNTY Kevin Ross, Evan Pinkham, Lynette Peppler, Samantha Brown, Eric Tracy, Kristin Stephens, MORGAN COUNTY Tim Malone, CDOT Cecil Gutierrez, Chad Hall, Christa Curtiss, Dan Mattson, Deanna McIntosh, Erick Romero, Erik Sabina, George Gromke, Gina Fox, Heather Paddock, Jim Eussen, James Usher, Jamie Grim, Josie Thomas, Lou Keen, Marissa Gaughan, Phil Von Hake, Rich Christy, NECALG Charles Bunnell, NFRMPO Paul Sizemore, NUNN Kyle Rakoczy, CITY OF BRUSH/TOWN OF HILLROSE Dale Colerick, ESTES PARK Dana Klein, ESTES PARK Greg Muhonen, ESTES PARK Travis Machalek, FORT MORGAN Brent Nation, Tom Acre, FORT LUPTON Chris Cross, KEENESBURG Mark Gray, PLATTEVILLE Troy Renken, REP. GABE EVANS OFFICE Adrienne Sandoval, RS&H Ray Cundiff, WELLINGTON Bob Gowing, Cody Bird, Patti Garcia.

Introductions and Determination of Quorum

Chair Ross - Chair Ross called the meeting to order at 1:00p.m. Introductions were made around the room and a quorum was determined to be present.
Entities present: Weld County, Larimer County, Morgan County, CDOT, City of Brush/Town of Hillrose, Estes Park, Fort Lupton, Fort Morgan, Keenesburg, Nunn, Platteville, and Wellington.

Approval of UFRTPR December 5, 2024, Meeting Minutes – Chair Ross

Motion: Approve the December 5, 2024, Meeting Minutes, Moved by: Troy Renken, Seconded by: Vice-Chair Stephens. Motion passed unanimously.

Transportation Commissioner Announcements (Cecil Gutierrez, CDOT)

Commissioner Gutierrez introduced himself as the newly appointed Transportation Commissioner by the Governor in December 2024. He summarized a few items that the Transportation Commission (TC) is currently working on including approving the MMOF match rate reduction for Weld County and the Town of Platteville.

STAC Representation Discussion (Kevin Ross, Weld County)

Chair Ross brought to the groups attention that a back-up is needed for representation at the STAC meetings in case Chair Ross is unable to make it. Morgan County Commissioner, Tim Malone, volunteered as back-up.

Approve and Sign Resolution for FY24-28 Multimodal Transportation and Mitigation Options Fund (MMOF) Project Awards (Evan Pinkham, Weld County)
A resolution was provided listing agencies and funding amounts for the FY 24-28 MMOF Project Awards. The list included: Estes Park – Transit Operations: $214,448.00, Estes Park – Moraine Avenue Trail: $300,000.00, Platteville – Sidewalk Improvements: $696,230.00, and Weld County – On-demand Transit Services: $ 263,415.00. The total amount of funds available for FY 24-28 is $1,474,093.00.
Evan asked for a signature on the resolution from Chair Ross and to allocate the funds as written.

Motion: Approve the Resolution for FY24-28 MMOF Project Awards, Moved by: Vice-Chair Stephens, Seconded by: Chair Ross. Motion passed unanimously.

Review UFR Project List and Approve Draft (Evan Pinkham, Weld County)

The Executive Committee met to discuss the project list and whether they wanted to prioritize projects numerically or split the projects into two tiers. During this process it was determined that the highway projects would be split up by counties (Larimer, Weld, and Morgan County), and each county would select their top ten priorities to create a combined list of thirty projects to become tier one projects. These project lists were provided to the group in the packet and in the presentation. After each county selected their top ten projects, they met with CDOT to review the list and ensure there were no fatal flaws. The same process was followed for the multimodal/transit projects but with each county selecting their top five priorities.

Evan asked the group for any thoughts or recommendations considering this process, and if there were any projects that were not included that should have been. The list will be handed off to CDOT to be included in their 2050 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and it is Evan’s hope for the list to be finalized following this meeting. The full master list of all the projects has been emailed to the group and he urged the group to review this list and to let him know if there is a project that needs to be included.

Chair Ross noted all projects on the tier one list are considered equal priority, and this was confirmed by Heather Paddock.

Heather mentioned that historically the UFR has prioritized projects numerically where each project had to be complete before you could move on to the next project on the list. By having a list of projects that are all equal, it will open opportunities to match projects with similar funding types as they become available. Heather asked what the process would be if funding becomes available that matches multiple projects, and how will it be decided which project receives funding?

Chair Ross replied, in this case the discussion would be brought back to the group for a solution.

Vice-Chair Stephens commented that she thought this was a great exercise and opportunity to meet with their municipalities and have those conversations. Stephens also agreed that if funding opportunities came up matching multiple projects, having a meeting to discuss funding distribution will not be a problem.

Cody Bird announced that Wellington would like to swap the Regional Active Transportation Corridor project from the Multimodal/Transit priority list with the Wellington to Fort Collins project for a fixed-route transit service between Wellington and Fort Collins from the master list that was sent to the group by email.

Vice-Chair Stephens supported this proposed change to the Larimer County Multimodal/Transit priority list as did Eric Tracy, and Dana Klein.

Motion: Approve UFR TPR 2050 Priority List of Projects as amended, Moved by: Vice-Chair Stephens, Seconded by: Troy Renken. Motion passed unanimously.

CDOT 2050 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) (Marissa Gaughan, CDOT)

Marissa thanked the group for completing the priority list of projects. CDOT will take this list and in June a plan will be presented and if adopted, CDOT will use that plan to establish their 2050 RTP Priority Projects List. The list will then be adopted in August. Marissa reminded the group that these regional plans are very important as this is how CDOT makes decisions for funding and investment opportunities.

CDOT INFRA Grant Award – US 287 Safety Improvement Project (Erick Romero, CDOT)

Erick Romero is the Assistant Project Manager for the US 287 Safety Improvements project. This project includes a thirty-mile stretch, from Ted’s place to the Wyoming Border and began with a safety study in 2023 that utilized crash data from 2017-2021. Using this study they identified 15 projects including intersection improvements, passing lanes/shoulder widening, wildlife fencing/crossing improvements, and resurfacing. The estimated cost for these projects in total is $57,000,000.00. CDOT was able to utilize the crash data to apply for the MPGD Grant (INFRA/Mega/Rural) and received an award in October 2024 of $55,800,00.00. The project will move forward with the grant agreement this spring, a preliminary design this fall, and a final design and construction in 2026/2027

Community Roundtable

Brush/Hillrose (Dale Colerick) - Gearing up for some surface treatment projects.

Estes Park (Dana Klein) - Thanks to everyone including CDOT for putting together the priority projects lists. They are working on their Multimodal Transportation plan and a Transit Development plan that should be going to the town board in the next few months to finalize. They are also working on a zero-emission vehicle transition plan for transit. Dana added that next week is Frozen Dead Guy Days in Estes Park.

Fort Lupton (Chris Cross) - Chris mentioned that there is not a lot going on except the activity on Highway 52. Their engineers are dreaming up stop lights and stop signs as development goes out, but otherwise they are just chugging along.

Fort Morgan (Tom Acre) - Tom stated that they are continuing to work with CDOT on their Storm Drainage project that will tie into CDOT’s project on Highway 52. They will be paving South Barlow Road from Highway 34 south to the Cargill meat plant this summer.

Platteville (Troy Renken) - Platteville is working on Highway 66 and WCR 19 and possibly adding a signal at this intersection. They are also looking to annex the northwest corner of Highway 85 and WCR 34 on the north side of Platteville which may also trigger the need for a signal. Troy and his team are currently drafting a plan for Highway 85 (Main Street), to make the access category levels all the same in order to provide better access. A resolution and proposal will be presented to the board on March 18th.

Wellington (Cody Bird) - Cody gave the group a quick update on their project, they are past 60% on design, very close on the environmental clearances, and hope to start the ROW acquisition process in the next couple weeks. If everything goes well with the ROW process, construction is scheduled to start later this fall. They have also been working with CDOT on a few projects near Wellington.

Larimer County (Vice-Chair Stephens) - Planning work is complete for their projects on Owl Canyon Road and are being revised by CDOT. They anticipate construction on the segment from LCR 11 to LCR 13 in early 2026. They will be utilizing their HSIP funds for guardrails for LCR 56, 74E and 38E which will be constructed this fall. Guardrails for LCR 74E and 69 are in design and for the widening for Bingham Hill Road they are working with CDOT on the IGA and hoping for construction on that in the spring of 2026. For the bridge improvement program, they have a planning grant that was awarded to them for the Pingree Park Bridge study, but they have not executed the agreement, and the grant is potentially on hold at the federal level. Their Transportation Master Plan update and Safe Streets For All Comprehensive Safety Action Plan is progressing, final drafts are being completed and they are anticipating adoption of the Comprehensive Safety Plan in April and doing further stake holder outreach and public review of the public Transportation Master Plan this spring with a final adoption this summer.

Morgan County (Tim Malone) - CDOT is doing some crack sealing on Highway 34 through Fort Morgan and is almost complete.

Weld County (Chair Ross) - Weld County is moving forward on their roundabout projects including WCR 59 and Highway 52, and WCR 6 and 13. They are grateful that we are continuing with the Highway Safety Study for Highway 14. The county is continuing to explore ways to expand their transit services along Highway 85 and discuss with CDOT and other entities on how to connect communities in this area for businesses and other services.

Public or Additional Comments

Chair Ross asked why Highway 71 was not included on the priority project list for Morgan County.
Josie Thomas answered that it is still on the list but not within their top ten priorities for Morgan County.
Chair Ross also added that one of the items that was communicated with him from his recent trip to Washington DC is that federally they are looking for a way to streamline processes between the feds and the state or the local authorities. They are looking to see what processes they can eliminate in order to reduce unnecessary spending, etc. With more direct contact we can spend the funds appropriately and keep the decisions at the local level.

Inactive Projects Report (Handout - Josie Thomas, CDOT)

Josie brought to the groups attention that there are three projects in the Upper Front Range with upcoming FHWA expirations. She recommended proactively obtaining an extension versus correcting the date after the fact. This report is likely going to be changing in the future as they are working on something more statewide and will be accessible on the website. Heather added that if you allow these projects to expire, you will not be reimbursed for the money spent following the expiration dates. Josie also mentioned that when it comes to billing, FHWA has made it clear that they would prefer for us to send in as many bills as possible instead of billing in large lump sums.

Adjourn

Meeting adjourned at 2:13p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Samantha Brown
Secretary