Buff Bus service has been critical for our Williams Village residents as it relates to student safety and academic success. It also helps us be good neighbors by significantly reducing students’ need for cars, in concert with other modes of sustainable transportation we promote in that area such as bike share, car share and a recent improved connection to the city’s multi-use path on the south side of Williams Village.
To maintain a high level of service that continues to incentivize students to leave their cars at home, additional Buff Bus service to Main Campus was required to serve the 700 students who moved into the new Williams Village East residence hall in fall 2019. CU Boulder is accommodating additional bus service at the current 30th Street and Bear Creek stops for the 2019-20 academic year, with the City of Boulder repurposing approximately 14 on-street parking spaces along the east side of 30th street so that waiting buses will not block northbound traffic.
CU Boulder, city staff and a third-party consultant are monitoring this interim option during the fall 2019 semester and analyzing data collected to assess whether the current stops can handle the new capacity while still providing a high level of service. The alternative being explored, should this interim option not meet CU Boulder’s transit needs, is the addition of a third Buff Bus stop in Front of the Williams Village East and Williams Village North residence halls, which would trigger the need for a new traffic signal at the intersection of 35th and Baseline.
Exploring our options
The university initiated this study due to concerns that the 30th Street stop in particular was already at capacity and that a new transit stop serving the Williams Village East and Williams Village North residence halls may be necessary to ensure that transit remains a convenient, accessible, equitable and efficient option for students at Williams Village. Additionally, the convenience of a new stop in front of Williams Village East and Williams Village North would help further incentivize students in those halls to utilize Buff Bus service rather than their own cars or ride share services, which would add to traffic congestion in the area.
To accommodate the potential new transit stop should it be determined that the 30th Street and Bear Creek stops alone are not meeting the needs of Williams Village, CU Boulder has asked the city to examine installing a traffic signal at 35th Street and Baseline Road so that buses utilizing the new stop could more safely make the left turn onto Baseline. Installation of such a traffic light, if approved by the city, would be paid for by the university and could be placed into service as early as summer 2020.
We've been listening ...
A consultant hired by the university in 2018 conducted an extensive traffic study at the intersection and nearby neighborhood, examining several options. The consultant zeroed in on a pair of recommended options, which were presented at a Sept. 27, 2018 community meeting. Following that meeting, we gathered feedback from neighbors and the city, and worked with the traffic consultant to study additional options, which were presented at a second meeting in March 2019.
Options 1A and 2A below are the original options presented last fall. Options 1B, 2B and the roundabout (Option 3) are the additional options that were presented on March 14 based on previous community input.
Based on community feedback from the March meeting, the traffic consultant and university and city officials have also discussed a sixth option consisting of a three-way traffic signal aligned roughly with 36th Street. Due to challenges associated with its proximity to the creek, this option is not being pursued further.
Transportation Advisory Board input
City of Boulder and CU Boulder officials presented the second round of options to the city’s Transportation Advisory Board at its June 2019 meeting, noting that the interim option of operating new buses at the current 30th Street and Bear Creek stops would be utilized and analyzed during the 2019-20 academic year. TAB supported the idea that this analysis take place before a decision on whether to add a traffic signal at 35th and Baseline is made.
If the university determines that the interim option is not capable of providing robust transit service to Williams Village, TAB members noted that they would be open to further study of options 1B (with some modifications) and 2B as possible configurations of the traffic signal.
Option 1A -- Four-way light
This option would entail installing a four-way traffic signal at the intersection and closing off the frontage road from 35th Street.
Option 1B -- Four-way light, with right in, right out to the frontage road
This option would include the same four-way light as 1A, but with additional access to and from the frontage road.
Option 2A -- Three-way light
This option would entail installing a three-way traffic signal and closing off the frontage road and 35th Street from Baseline. 
Option 2B -- Three-way light, with offset right in, right out access to 35th Street
This option would include the same three-way light as 2A, but with offset access to 35th Street via the frontage road.
Option 3 -- Roundabout
This option would entail a roundabout at the intersection rather than a traffic signal. It would close off the frontage road similar to 1A.
