CLEAR CREEK

Because so many details are up-in-the-air right now, she didn’t have an estimate on costs.

City sta has been working with a $35,000 gure to implement the wristbands or stickers, with Lorentz saying that Golden already has some money budgeted for 2023 creek management.

Over the winter, city o cials and community members have been discussing whether additional measures are needed to help manage Clear Creek visitation this summer.

e city’s heard a variety of feedback about the corridor, and Lorentz noted that Golden may adjust some of these strategies partway through the summer. However, she said, the goal remains the same: ensure all Clear Creek visitors have the best possible experience.

During the April 11 City Council work session, Lorentz and other sta members asked for the councilors’ input about shuttle services, wristbands and the Ford Street crossing over the creek. For each topic, sta provided options that ranged from signi cant change to no change.

Regarding shuttle services and wristbands, most councilors felt it’d be worthwhile to implement some changes along the creek this summer to collect data. Longer term, they believed the data could help calculate the creek’s capacity and whether Golden may have to restrict tubing to a certain level to avoid overuse.

“We know it’s not going to be perfect,” City Manager Scott Vargo said of collecting data, “but it’s going to give us a lot more information and a variety of information.”

Councilors Rob Reed and Bill Fisher were among those who believed managing Clear Creek visitation was a signi cant enough issue to make investments and col- lect the data.

“I think wristbands make sense as a trial,” Fisher said. “ … is would hopefully give us a sense of where the congestion points are, where (the tubers) are coming from, and where they’re going.”

The Ford Street crossing e $150,000 tra c signal isn’t a done deal yet, Lorentz later clari ed, saying sta will research it more this year. e city would need to budget the tra c signal as a capital improvement project, and sta also wanted to align its installment with upgrading the tra c signal at 10th and Ford streets. e councilors also wanted to ensure the signals at the 10th Street intersection and the Ford Street crossing were coordinated, so one wouldn’t cause congestion at the other.

Most councilors also wanted to pursue the signi cant change option for the Ford Street crossing, which would be a $150,000 tra c signal. e other options were keeping the seasonal crossing guards, or installing a ashing pedestrian signal there.

Lorentz said this crossing becomes di cult to manage during high-volume times as people continuously walk across, causing motorists to back up along Ford Street as they wait for a break in the pedestrian tra c.

Rather than installing a costly tra c signal, some councilors discussed trying to change people’s behavior by either crossing Ford Street under the bridge and/or crossing at 10th Street. Lorentz said sta will be looking at a variety of options while pursuing the tra c signal, saying the city could do a combination of things to mitigate congestion along Ford Street.

In the meantime, Lorentz said, Golden will likely have crossing guards on Ford Street this summer.

For more information or to leave a comment for the city, visit guidinggolden.com/clear-creekmanagement-strategies.