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Home My WebLink About20052582.tiff A. LOAra,_ F • :n? July 12, 2005 C'�LOR��o Weld County Commissioners 915 Tenth Street P.O. Box 758 Mayor Greeley, CO 80632 Julia Pirnack Re: Proposed Weld County Road 7 Connection Mayor ProTem Weld County Commissioners: Council Member-at-Large We appreciated the opportunity on June 29th to hear your plans for Tom McCoy an arterial roadway west of and parallel to 1-25 to improve the transportation alternatives in Southwest Weld County, specifically Council Member-Ward 1 the proposal for Weld County Road 7. Doug Brown Longmont believes it critical to plan ahead for transportation improvements that will become necessary by further development Council Member-Ward 2 in both unincorporated Weld and in SW Weld towns. We appreciate that you share this belief in good infrastructure planning Karen Benker as evidenced by the work done to date to evaluate several alignments for the arterial. However, we have deep concern with Council Member-Ward 3 the proposal to extend Weld County Road 7 through the St. Vrain State Park given how it will impact the ecological and recreational Marty Block value of the park (and investments made by each of us). St. Vrain State Park, as master planned, is a unique and valuable resource to all residents and communities in Southwest Weld County and it Council Member-at-Large must remain whole. Fred Wilson Roger Lange Agreeing to eliminate the proposed Road 7 alignment does not relieve the responsibility to provide a viable alternative for intra- town trips. Happily there appears to be general agreement that a offices: consensus could be reached on an alternative that does not split 350 Kimbark Street the park. One likely candidate is Alternative D which utilized WCR Longmont,Co 80501 7 south of Highway 119 and WCR 5 1/2 north of Highway 119. As 303-651-8601 requested in the meeting, further analysis regarding how much the FAX: 303-651-8590 offset alignment (the "Z") would impact the functionality and service delivery of 119 could be accomplished —and may even show that Meetings: many trips would likely use this east/west corridor in any case. Tuesday Evenings e2005-2582 WLc.��t 2005-2582 7T-IT0iiJ C lJZS dr— Cr; fL/.? C7o • The current travel demand trends identified through the North 1-25 Environmental Impact Study show more demand for shorter trips between communities. These trips might not be as adversely impacted or could even be facilitated by such an alignment. The consultant indicated that this type of analysis (on the expected impacts or benefits, including an origin/destination study), had not been accomplished for Alternative D. A thorough analysis of the preferred options is really the only way we can legitimately compare each transportation solution along with its environmental and economic impacts. Although some Commissioners stated at our June 29th meeting that they would support only the Road 7 route through the Park or no arterial roadway on the west side of 1-25, we are confident that the Board recognizes the need to provide adequate transportation infrastructure demanded by continuing development in Weld County. We will look forward to further exploration and analysis of alternatives and to continuing to work with you on this issue. Please let us know how we may assist you with this process. Respectfully, Julia Pirnack Mayor DityYof Longmont cc: Representative Dale Hall SW Weld County Mayors State Parks Board GOCO Board c°� °tt TOWN OF FREDERICK F"/ j 401 LOCUST STREET • P. O. BOX 435 • FREDERICK, CO 80530 I O PHONE: (303) 833-2388 • FAX: (303) 833-3817 n A q O- A July 21, 2005 Chairman William Jerke Weld County Board of Commissioners 915 10`h Street PO Box 758 Greeley, CO 80632 Dear Chairman Jerke and Commissioners: In response to the June 29 discussion of the Weld County Parallel Arterials project, , please accept this letter as the Town of Frederick's official notification of opposition to Alternative A. While our Town strongly supports transportation plans that would improve the current and future mobility of southwest Weld County, we cannot support an alternative that would dismantle the final development of St. Vrain State Park. Our basis for opposing the design as presented in Alternative A is based on our concern for the economic and recreational impacts on the northern Front Range region of our state. The State Parks Board has already diverted $3 million away from improvements that were to be made at St. Vrain State Park this year, and another$12 million will be withdrawn and spent elsewhere next year if WCR 7 is widened. The widening project as proposed in Alternative A would deny the residents of Frederick and other nearby communities the recreational amenities of what would otherwise be a very attractive natural feature. Additionally, Alternative A would devastate the economic benefit that would come as a result of the park's full development. Please understand that the Town of Frederick is only opposed to Alternative A of the Parallel Arterials project, not the Parallel Arterials project itself. Transportation corridors are extremely important to our communities. It is our hope that another alternative could be agreed upon that would accommodate the needs of the State Parks Board, Weld County, and our communities. Thank you for your attention to this issue. inc Eric E. Doering Mayor cc: Southwest Weld County Mayors State Parks Board GOCO Board ('C , i'_, /060 9 t tt 0eint � % Firestone 1,57, A Corrrntnnity ris In Motion July 14, 2005 Board of Commissioners Weld County 915 10'h Street Box 758 Greeley,Colorado 80632 Dear Commissioners: The Town of Firestone appreciates the effort the Commissioners made in coordinating the meeting held on June 29th in order to bring all the parties together who have an ongoing interest in the development of an alternative transportation corridor along the east and west sides of 1-25. The Town of Firestone has been instrumental in the coordination and planning in cooperation with Weld County and surrounding communities in the development of the Legacy Trail system throughout this region. The Legacy Trail is a major component in the statewide trail system and Firestone has spent over$1 million dollars planning and constructing trail connections from our internal trail system to the Legacy Trail. It is a requirement of developers within the boundaries of Firestone to construct internal trails and trail connections in order to ultimately provide a means of bicycle and pedestrian transportation corridors that connect to the statewide system. St.Vrain State Park is a major component in this statewide system and provides a connection to Firestone's trail east of I-25 adjacent to the South West Weld County building. To lose this connection due to limiting the expansion of the St. Vrain State Park to accommodate a transportation corridor is not acceptable. Firestone acknowledges the need for an alternative transportation corridor in this area but believes options exist that would answer that need without building out WCR 7 through St.Vrain State Park. Building Alternative A north to HWY 119 then east to WCR 5.5 would provide that solution. The loss of an improved state recreation and wildlife area for this northern region would devastatingly impact local communities and their residents as well as the state as a whole.Firestone is strongly opposed to the transportation corridor alternative that would bisect this precious resource and encourage Weld County Commissioners to investigate other options. Sincerely, Mike Simone Mayor 151 Grant Ave. • P.O. Box 100 • Firestone, CO 80520 (303) 833-3291 • fax (303) 833-4863 Cr: PCB / •.5t-7Wa*A7 eau Town of Mead (� P.O. Box 626 441 Third Street Mead-"A Little Town Mead, Colorado 80542-0626 With a Big Foshan" (970)535-4477 July 18, 2005 Board of County Commissioners Weld County 915 10th Street P. 0. Box 758 Greeley, Colorado 80632 Dear Commissioners: Thank you for giving the Town of Mead an opportunity to comment on the extension of WCR 7 through the St. Vrain State Park. The Town of Mead recognizes the importance of convenient access. However, this particular access adversely impacts a unique and irreplaceable State asset. The Town of Mead Board of Trustees thinks that because this access is so important another avenue should be developed to accomplish that goal. The Board of Trustees of Town of Mead stands ready to assist the Board of County Commissioners in this important decision. We have discussed several alternatives with our Traffic Consultants (Felsburg Holt and Ullevig) and asked that they comment on the viability of these alternatives. We would be pleased to share their report with you. l . Very tru Richard E. Kraemer Mayor C Town of Mead cY: it It id V 0TBYI M---, Page 1 of 1 Vicky Sprague To: Bruce Barker Subject: RE: WS on WQR 7 1 Bruce: I will get copies of town letters from the clerk as I know several have been received. I will distribute them to everyone on the w/s list. I am sure the letters have been in the board's correspondence files. Vicky Sprague, Office Manager Board of Weld County Commissioners 915 10th Street P. O. Box 758 Greeley CO 80632 Telephone: 970-336-7204 Fax: 970-352-0242 vsprague@co.weld.co.us From: Bruce Barker Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 10:08 AM To: Vicky Sprague Cc: Frank Hempen; Monica Mika; Don Warden; Keith Meyer; Bill Jerke Subject: WS on WCR 7 Vicky: Bill Jerke asked me to schedule a 1/2 hour work session strategy regarding WCR 7. He asked that it be done as soon as possible. Need me, Monica, Frank, Keith, and Don Warden. The Board asked about letters we are suppose to get from the affected rfwnicipalities saying they are opposed fo the extension of WCR 7 through the State Parks property. I have one from Frederick, but none from the other municipalities, such as Firestone, Dacono, Mead, and Longmont. Frank: Have those been sent to you? Thanks. Bruce. kor ' Jcw 4ec, s, a� -�; y,1 € C. fl5' 5S /1 8/1/2005 FV VU � a � ‘Sibak- do cf-diz &if kuu- czt,( qiu W1 (0-4 dc3— Hello