Flood recovery progress on Longmont's greenways

Jan 20, 2015
ByJustin Millar

Flood recovery progress on Longmont’s greenways

The floods of September 2013 damaged many of the bike paths around Longmont, where I live, especially those along St. Vrain and Left Hand Creeks. I recently took a couple of weekend rides on the St. Vrain and Left Hand Greenways and saw that flood recovery projects are in full swing—many repairs are already complete and more are scheduled to be completed later this year.

The sign below provides a nice visual of the projects and the progress being made. More detailed information on the projects can be found on the City of Longmont’s website.

Flood recovery overview sign on the St. Vrain Greenway Path — Flood recovery overview sign on the St. Vrain Greenway

The greenway paths are my favorite routes in town and it was great to see the progress for myself. A lot has been accomplished over the last year. No doubt there’s still much to be done, but I was encouraged at both the amount of completed projects and the rate of progress.

I started one of my rides on the recently completed path that runs alongside Airport Road and rode underneath Highway 119 using the new tunnel. This section is not a flood recovery project, but it’s a welcome improvement.

New path crossing highway 119 — New path crossing Highway 119

The new tunnel under highway 119 — The new tunnel under Highway 119

At the start of the Left Hand Greenway, I came to the underpass at Hover Street and Left Hand Creek, which had been closed since the floods. I was happy to see that it is now repaired and open.

Repaired undepass Hover St. and Lefthand Creek — Repaired underpass at Hover Street and Left Hand Creek

Repaired banks of Lefthand Creek — Repaired banks of Left Hand Creek

Further on, I found that the Left Hand Greenway is open from Hover Street all the way to where it joins the St. Vrain Greenway on the east portion of Ken Pratt Boulevard.

Underpass at Highway 119 & Left Hand Creek — Underpass at Highway 119 and Left Hand Creek

From there I was able to take the St. Vrain Greenway almost all the way to Main Street. While the underpass that crosses Main Street remains closed, repairs are in progress for this key crossing. Heading west beyond Main Street, the St. Vrain Greenway finds open sections up to Sunset Street, though the Sunset Street bridge remains closed.

St. Vrain Greenway & S. Pratt Pkwy (facing east) — St. Vrain Greenway and South Pratt Parkway (facing east)

St. Vrain Greenway & Left Hand Brewery (facing east) — St. Vrain Greenway and Left Hand Brewery (facing east)

Repaired underpass St. Vrain Greenway & Boston Ave. — Repaired underpass St. Vrain Greenway and Boston Avenue

The path reopens at Roger’s Grove at the Boulder County Fairgrounds/Open Space and is open the rest of the way west to the Lykins Gulch Greenway.

All in all, I found that great progress is being made on all the flood recovery projects in Longmont. It’s time to get back out there and ride our wonderful greenways!

Along the Lykins Gulch Greenway (Airport Road)

About the Author: Justin Millar

Justin handles all our bookkeeping including accounts payable and receivable, helps manage the online store and provides event support. His diverse background provides expertise any number of ways in the office. Justin enjoys riding around Boulder with his young son in tow.