UFR TPR September 5th, 2024 Meeting Minutes

Location of Meeting: Morgan County Assembly Room, 231 Ensign Street, Fort Morgan, CO 80701

Attendance

WELD COUNTY Kevin Ross, Elizabeth Relford, Evan Pinkham, Michelle Wall, LARIMER COUNTY Eric Tracy, Kristin Stephens, MORGAN COUNTY Jon Becker, CDOT Bin Zhang, Chad Hall, Christa Curtiss, Dan Mattson, Darius Pakbaz, Gary Aucott, Heather Paddock, Jan Rowe, Jim Eussen, James Usher, Josie Thomas, Lou Keen, Marissa Gaughan, Medora Bornhoft, Michael Snow, Nell Conti, Phil Von Hake, Rich Christy, Tess Richey, NECALG Charles Bunnell, NFRMPO Paul Sizemore, City of Brush/Town of Hillrose Dale Colerick, ESTES PARK Dana Klein, Travis Machalek, Trevor Wittwer, Fort Lupton Chris Cross, Fort Morgan Brent Nation, FORT MORGAN Tom Acre, PLATTEVILLE Troy Renken, WELLINGTON Alex Evonitz, Bob Gowing, Cody Bird, Patti Garcia.

Introductions and Determination of Quorum - Chair Becker

Chair Becker called the meeting to order at 12:59 p.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, Platteville, and Wiggins.

Approval of UFRTPR June 6, 2024, Meeting Minutes - Chair Becker

Motion: Approve the June 6, 2024, Meeting Minutes, Moved by Commissioner Ross, Seconded by Troy Renken. Motion passed unanimously.

Transportation Commissioner Announcements - Jim Kelly, CDOT

No update was given at this time.

MMOF Program/Call for Projects Schedule – Michael Snow, CDOT/Evan Pinkham, Weld County

Michael Snow provided a couple handouts containing possible MMOF scoring criteria so the TPR could come up with the criteria they want in their application process.

Evan Pinkham said draft applications will be due the first week of October. CDOT will review the draft applications and provide comments, October 3, 2024, thru October 24, 2024. Final applications are due on November 7, 2024. CDOT will review November 7, 2024, thru November 21, 2024. The Executive Committee will convene and score applications after that time. Send applications to Evan Pinkham at epinkham@weld.gov and the MMOF Manager at mmof@state.co.us. Evan suggested adding Partnerships as a category and asked for the group’s feedback on the template provided in the handout.
Josie Thomas explained CDOT will provide comments on the draft applications, but they will not make recommendations. CDOT will let the group know of any red flags they see.

Elizabeth Relford reminded the group that at the June TPR meeting, the group agreed to consolidate FY 2024 thru FY 2028 funding. After the Executive Committee provides their recommendation, the recommendation will be brought to the TPR for the December meeting.

Josie mentioned if you have a project that does not have adequate funding and meets MMOF criteria, it could be a good opportunity to get the remainder of the project funded.

The TPR decided to make a couple revisions to the application evaluation template and definitions:

Add “Community Connectivity” to the Network/Modal Connectivity criteria and add schools.
Under the criteria “Application Quality”, add project timeline (shovel-ready metric).
Top two criteria worth 15 points each with remaining criteria worth 10 points each.

Evan will make the changes and send the revised version out to the TPR. Elizabeth said an email reminder will be sent out a week before draft applications are due.

UFR Letter to CWCB on BLE Technical Position – Evan Pinkham, Weld County

Evan drafted a letter to the CWCB from the TPR discussing the impacts of BLE flood risk maps not being regulatory unless adopted. He asked the TPR to review the letter and send any comments to him at epinkham@weld.gov by September 19, 2024.

I-76 EB Off-Ramp and WCR 49 – Richard Christy, CDOT

Richard Christy gave an update on the I-76 EB Off-Ramp and WCR 49 Signing and Striping Plan. The off-ramp is in close proximity to the frontage road with no traffic control. There is a work order to add additional stop signs on WCR 49 and make it an all-way stop. Project should be completed by early fall.

Bin Zhang suggested they add flashing lights for night travel. It is very dark under the off-ramp.

CDOT Presentation – 2050 Regional Transportation Plan – Marissa Gaughan, DTD

Heather Paddock explained that every 4 years they look at all the data and find the best ways to utilize planning dollars for transportation projects.

Marissa Gaughan explained the UFR will need to develop a final 2050 Regional Transportation Plan. CDOT plans to have at least 4 meetings with the group and can have a separate meeting to discuss transit and active transportation. Since there will not be a STAC meeting in December, it was decided that CDOT could discuss transit at the December meeting. CDOT would also like to discuss the UFRTPR project list and scoring criteria at the December meeting.

Marissa said they will be sending out a follow-up survey to collect input for updating the UFRTPR’s visions and goals for the 2050 Plan. CDOT will bring results to the December meeting.

CDOT plans to have their long-range plan complete by the end of the year (2024).

Heather covered 2020 – 2024 Region 4 projects. The Road Weather Information Stations (RWIS) along US 34 in Morgan and Weld Counties are a combination of technologies that collect, transmit, model, and disseminate weather and road condition information in real-time. RWIS is used when snowplows are deployed. They can determine how much chemicals are needed.

Chad Hall spoke about the Peckham Interchange at US 85 and WCR 44. It is a grade separated intersection. CDOT closed several at-grade railroad crossings to increase the safety and mobility of the US 85 corridor.

Bin Zhang discussed the I-76 Phase IV Reconstruction near Brush. CDOT will replace 4 major bridge structures, reconstruct 1.4 miles of interstate highway, and install a new park-n-ride facility. A $29 million INFRA Grant was awarded from FHWA. Bin thanked everyone for their help.

Darius Pakbaz gave a presentation on demographic data. He also spoke about transportation data trends in the UPR including vehicle crashes, vulnerable road users, wildlife vehicle crashes, and highway drivability life. Elizabeth asked Darius if he could figure out how much it would cost Region 4 to fix the roadways based on the “Drivability Life - Highways” map. Elizabeth said this data could help with project selection. Darius went over maps displaying bridges and roadways in poor condition.

Christa Curtiss gave a presentation on the current state of Transit and gaps in the transit network throughout the State. If you have any feedback on the transit data that was on the map, please contact her. Darius said they will make this data public on their website so users can apply all the layers they want.

Marissa discussed the follow-up survey in more detail. She said the survey will have vision, goals, focus areas.

There is a Region 4 State Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) Stakeholder Workshop on September 11, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.

An Active Transportation Plan survey is open through September 13, 2024.

Marissa said they will pass out a spreadsheet at the December meeting with the TPR’s list of projects. The group can discuss if there are projects that they wish to add. Commissioner Stephens said that she thinks safety needs to be more of a priority in the criteria.

Community Roundtable

Platteville - Troy Renken said Platteville has acquired a couple of properties where they will need to work with CDOT on intersection improvements. One of the properties is on Front Street which is located on the east side of US 85, just south of WCR 34. CDOT will be doing an impact analysis of the intersection. The analysis may or may not result in signalization. A sand company wants to build a warehouse and he foresees that causing some traffic issues. The second land purchase is located south of SH 66 between Main Street and the river. Because of traffic congestion, they are working to improve this intersection as well.

Brush/Hillrose - Dale Colerick said it is budget season for the City of Brush. They are looking at their 5-year CIP and for funds available for road improvements next year.

Fort Morgan - Brent Nation introduced Tom Acre. Tom came from the Town of Wiggins, and will be the Public Works Director for Fort Morgan. Brent said they are working on getting the 1200 feet of SH 52 reopened today. They replaced a waterline and Fort Morgan is working on a review of a large storm water project.

Estes Park - Dana Klein said they have completed the downtown Estes Loop project. He would love to hear feedback on it.

Wellington - Cody Bird said their Main Street is at 30% design. They are working on intersection improvements near the high school, and working on applying for grant funding for design of intersection improvements at I-25 and SH 1.

Weld County - Commissioner Ross reported the WCR 77 project should be completed this week. Last week, the High Plains Blvd Community Outreach began with Mead and CDOT; he said he realizes this project is outside of the UFR, but it will be a big project for Weld County. The roundabouts at WCR 6 and WCR 13 are still in design.

Larimer County - Commissioner Stephens said Phase I for the Owl Canyon project is scheduled to be complete at the end of September. Phase II should be advertised for construction in early 2025. They are still seeking funding for Phase III. Larimer County had two Highway Safety Improvement guardrail projects that are now complete. They also received a planning grant for the Pingree Park Bridge. Larimer is trying to get an implementation grant. She said they are updating the Larimer County Transportation Master Plan “Larimer on the Go” and also working on their “Safe Streets for All” safety action plan. This week a resolution was passed on putting a question on the November ballot for a 1.5% sales tax to apply to transportation funding. Yesterday, they submitted a 17-million-dollar grant on behalf of CDOT for the Wildlife Crossing Safety Improvements that have been identified on US 287.

Inactive Projects Report (Informational Only)

A report was provided updating the group on any inactive projects for the UFR TPR.

Offices will be closed Sept. 1 for Labor Day.