Ask Golden

Thanks for your question! Our Streets Supervisor, Steve Kurtz, said the ROW (Right of Way) closure has been extended through Feb 29, 2020.

There is not an actual project for 8^th Street at this time, but Planning Commission and the Mobility and Transportation Advisory Board (MTAB) have begun discussing possible future changes along this corridor to address concerns about pedestrian safety.

This conversation dates back several years, during the approval of the West 8^th Apartments at the western end of 8^th Street. The issue resurfaced during the Basecamp approval process last year (hotel and apartments project). Essentially, residents have been saying for several years that the street needs to be made safer for pedestrians and cyclists. While some improvements have been made as new development has occurred along 8^th Street, the City is looking into potentially accelerating this effort by carrying these improvements through to the rest of the corridor.

What Planning Commission is recommending is to start the conversation with an earlier streetscape plan from several years ago that would create an 8 foot walk on the north side of 8^th and a 5 foot walk on the south side of 8^th. Residents have also recently identified the need for better visibility at key intersections, such as Cheyenne. As a result, the City has been talking about adding bump outs (aka elephant ears) to increase visibility and shorten crossing distances. Commission sent this recommendation over to the Mobility and Transportation Advisory Board (MTAB) for consideration, as they are the board that advises staff and Council on specific implementation strategies. MTAB is now looking at this and considering possible next steps in a planning process, but funding sources have not yet been secured and these renewed design discussions are still in their infancy.

Pel-Ona is not involved in any new design or development projects in Golden. They have been involved in two already constructed projects within the past few years, one being a four unit townhome project approved in 2018 at 1917 Ford Street.

There is now a delay in the re-installation of the speed bumps.  It was delayed in order for crews to have time to collect necessary data.  Data collection is scheduled for the final week in September, and outreach to adjacent neighbors will follow soon after.

The idea of pedestrian zones has been an important part of planning for Downtown Golden for many decades.  One of the biggest constraints that we have is the limited number of bridges over Clear Creek and limited north/south streets.  Unfortunately, given our topography and street system it is infeasible to remove vehicles totally from Washington Ave.  Rather we continue to look for ways to increase pedestrian safety and comfort.

The Golden Supercruise brings a number of traffic related concerns that are addressed by the Golden Police Department during the events.  One main concern involves the use of illegal exhaust systems.  The Golden Police Department realizes this is a livability issue for citizens and we try to work with the motorists through education, voluntary compliance and ultimately enforcement.  Enforcement, education and voluntary compliance are an everyday effort and not strictly related to special events such as the Supercruise.  Any vehicles traveling down roads within the City of Golden are subject to enforcement when violations are observed.  In in order to take enforcement action on an exhaust system violation an officer has to first hear the exhaust system, determine if it was modified from that of what would be standard equipment to the vehicle, and ultimately observe the equipment is not recognized as street legal by the Environmental Protection Agency.  The Golden Police Department trains all Officers on this recognition.

Another area of concern associated with illegal exhaust systems and high performance vehicles are the fumes emitted from them.  If the Golden Police Department observes these fumes, enforcement and voluntary compliance are factors considered.  If the vehicle is deemed to be unworthy for road use the vehicle can be removed from operation on public roads and citations can be issued.

During the Supercruise, Officers work in several capacities.  Officers work on foot patrols where they can educate participants when illegal exhaust systems are observed and determine if specific vehicles are roadworthy or designed for closed course competitions only.  Participants are educated on how to bring the exhaust and vehicle back into compliance and improve livability concerns for the community. Officers also work in mobile capacities and enforce traffic laws.  During this enforcement, Officers make contact with violators and enforcement or voluntary compliance can be taken.  The Golden Police Department's main goal through all the above mentioned avenues, is for motorists to bring the exhaust system and vehicle back into compliance and make the vehicle street-worthy again to avoid long term violations. 

For additional questions please feel free to contact:

Sgt. Matt Porter

Golden Police Department

Traffic Unit

303-384-8059 (Direct)

303-980-7300 (Non-emergency Dispatch)

The odors that you are smelling are from the Coors process wastewater treatment plant.  The plant treats wastewater from the brewery, not sewage, although that's not a distinction that's easy to make based on the smell.  The City does not operate the plant, contribute wastewater to the plant, or regulate the plant - it is, in fact, located outside the city. Coors does operate an odor hotline to receive complaints related to the plants.  Coors also has a smaller plant that treats sewage from Golden under a contract with the City.  The plant is tucked into the brewery complex and has not historically had odor issues. 

There is no plan to close the Front Porch. There have been minor adjustments in the 2019/2020 Community Center budget that occurred last fall as a part of budget preparation. Here is what has transpired.

As a part of the 2019-2020 budget preparation process, it was apparent that budget subsidies were increasing specifically in the areas of the Golden Community Center and the Museums.  The Parks and Recreation department was asked provide ideas to help reduce subsidy levels.  Several suggestions were provided. Based on these suggestions, there were a number of adjustments made for the 2019 budget. They included the following:

• Front Porch staff attendant hours were reduced by 10 hours/week. The Front Porch is open from 8AM to 2PM weekdays. This change keeps a part time staff member present during the 8am-noon hours which are the busiest in the Front Porch by far. We have not reduced the Front Porch hours of operation, just attendant hours.  During the Noon to 2 PM time we do not have a dedicated attendant on duty.  Our full time Guest Services Supervisor offices in the Front Porch and other building staff come through the area regularly.   Free coffee and snack services are still available during weekday morning hours. Some of our attendant staff have recently seen reduction in their scheduled hours.  This may have been what has triggered recent citizen concern.
• The City-owned passenger vans were eliminated. This impacted both the Front Porch day trip program and licensed Children’s programs who were the primary users of the vans. Licensed Children’s programs were able to contract Jefferson County school buses which allowed them to generate greater revenues through higher capacities. The impact of this change is estimated to result in a $12,000 savings to the GCC Budget in 2019.
• Weight Room Attendant hours were reduced by 10 hours/week.
• Climbing Wall Attendant hours on Friday evenings were eliminated. Further reductions to that schedule have been made this summer.
• The Dash at the Splash youth triathlon was eliminated.
• Various small reductions were made including staff uniform line items and program expense line items.

Overall these actions do not generate huge savings however they do account for some savings which is helpful to the overall budget. Subsidy levels, fees and charges and service levels will need further research, public input, and policy discussion/direction for future budgets.

The next phase will be a review of the TMP framework that the consultants have put together. The framework is essentially an outline of the final draft that presents the main topics that the plan will cover. The consultants will present this framework to a joint study session with City Council, Planning Commission, and MTAB (Mobility and Transportation Advisory Board). The comments generated from this discussion will be incorporated into an initial draft to be reviewed in early fall. 

On Monday, July 22 we will close Washington Ave at Hwy 93 to begin replacing a storm sewer crossing. This work will take place in advance of the completion of the pedestrian and bike lane connections that were begun last year in conjunction with the Washington Avenue Complete Streets project. This is the one part of the project that was not touched while the rest of the work was being done on Washington Avenue to allow people to still access businesses in the area. Work is anticipated to take one week to complete and business access and a detour will be in place via Iowa Street. Please contact John Hardy at (303) 384-8195 if you have any questions.

Your inquiry is timely, as the Mobility and Transportation Advisory Board  (MTAB) is finalizing a manual on crosswalk policy that would outline when a crosswalk should be marked vs being left unmarked. So once that manual is completed we can evaluate this particular intersection.  I do want to clarify that crosswalks do technically exist at every intersection, they are simply unmarked crosswalks. The point being that a driver should not be surprised to find a pedestrian crossing Iowa Drive at Rubey Drive. I would also put forth the idea that the marked and signalized crosswalk at Iowa and HWY 93 would offer a very good opportunity for bikes and pedestrians to access the HWY 93 trail. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns. Best regards, Joe Puhr

The light at the intersection of State Hwy 93 and Washington Avenue will be replaced this year by the Colorado Department of Transportation. As a part of that project, a separate defined right turn lane will be constructed on Washington. This will allow the pedestrian trail to cross the right turn lane to a pedestrian refuge before crossing the rest of Washington Ave. This will be a big improvement from the current situation where there are some cars turning and some going straight and pedestrians don’t always know what cars are doing. The project will occur this year, but we do not have a schedule at this time. The City will be replacing the culvert under Washington later this month and the CDOT project will start some time after that.

There is no established date to reopen the playground, other than ASAP! The Lion’s Park Playground safety updates are almost complete. The slide has been replaced, and the surface is scheduled to be poured – weather permitting – Friday. We have asked Mother Nature for three days of 60 degrees and higher temperatures, as the surface will need three days with higher temperatures to get the best adhesion of the safety surface layover before the playground can be reopened for use. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Hwy 93, north of Pine Ridge and north of where the Golden bike path currently ends, would be on JeffCo property or within CDOT ROW, and outside of Golden’s control. The Golden Bike plan envisions a widened shoulder to allow safer bike access, but funding for a shared use path would be a more ideal solution, to be sure.

The building at 1100 Washington Avenue was purchased in 2018 to be renovated based on its historic look and façade. The owner is considering restaurant and retail uses for the main floor and either office or residential for the second floor. The project is in the design phase, but no building permit application for the renovation has been submitted yet.

City staff agrees, and has advocated for an eventual G Line extension from Ward Road for some time now, but it has yet to appear on any official RTD expansion list. Since such an extension would be very costly, RTD takes a very cautious approach. In the meantime, staff is also lobbying RTD for a bus extension from Golden to the Ward Road station, similar to the old 44 bus route that was truncated in 2013 and no longer serves Golden. Now that the Golden Line is actually operational, there may be more traction on this idea.

Our Police Department said the vehicle on the hill incident was handled by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. You can contact them for more information via their website at https://www.jeffco.us/678/Contact. 

Traffic congestion is always considered as part of new development within the City of Golden.  With respect to a new signal being added to Highway 93 at Pine Ridge Road, it is the understanding of Golden Public Works that CDOT has studied the location for the possible addition of a signal and determined that it did not meet the warrants for signalization as set forth in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). CDOT plans to alter the intersection at HWY 93 and Pine Ridge Road to preclude left turns onto the highway. Drivers wishing to head south on HWY 93 would need to head southward through town to get to either Washington Ave or Iowa Street to then make the left to southbound HWY 93. Once the new development at Epoque and Golden Lodge are completed, drivers wishing to access HWY 93 can simply access Golden Gate Canyon Road to head either north or south via the lighted intersection.

The work at the end of Plateau Parkway is geotechnical investigative work for the Hillen property.  This is likely to be a residential development but they have not formally submitted anything yet.

The best way to track this issue is on the new Guiding Development page here on Guiding Golden. There we'll also let you know of upcoming opportunities for public input.

City Council recently enacted a temporary moratorium (until August 1^st) on building permits for new “paired homes’ (duplexes) and site plans for multi-family projects. During the period of the moratorium Planning Commission and City Council will be reviewing code amendments to improve such projects. The best way to get additional specific information is to visit the Guiding Development page on Guiding Golden.

In anticipation that the History Museum might move, the mural will be painted on a removable substrate. The surface will be comprised of six 4’ x 8’ panels of Dibond (rigid aluminum) with a beveled wooden frame to be attached to the exterior wall. If and when the museum relocates, the panels and frame can be easily reinstalled in a new location.