Longmont transportation changes take shape ahead of 2027 Sundance festival
The city’s Sundance transportation plan is due by the end of August, while B-Cycle service has launched and RTD plans hourly airport trips beginning Sept. 27.
Longmont is developing a transportation-management plan for visitors to the 2027 Sundance Film Festival, with the plan due by the end of August. Final transit schedules, construction detours and e-bike arrangements were not set in a city staff presentation to the Longmont City Council.
The festival is scheduled for Jan. 21-31, 2027, after moving to Boulder. The presentation projects more than 72,840 attendees and more than $132 million in regional economic impact. It anticipates BOLT and RTD service, construction-related restrictions and detours on Colorado 119 and Hover Street, scheduling around Sunset Street, expanded wayfinding and e-bike planning. Longmont also reported coordination with six hotels.
Visit Longmont has proposed a $500,000 marketing commitment — $50,000 annually for 10 years beginning in 2027 — but the final contract is pending. The presentation lists no fiscal impact and does not provide Sundance-specific city staffing or public-safety costs.
Meanwhile, Longmont’s B-Cycle e-bike-share service began a soft opening July 29 with 30 Class 1 e-bikes at five station areas: Civic Center Plaza, Roger’s Grove Park, the Longmont Recreation Center, the 8th Avenue and Coffman Street Park-n-Ride, and 6th and Coffman, the Transportation Advisory Board packet says. The regional program is funded by a $1.5 million Colorado Energy Office Community Accelerated Mobility Project grant. Longmont received $379,000 and provided a $21,445 local match from the city’s three-quarter-cent Street Fund sales-and-use tax.
A sixth station is planned for Hover Street and Colorado 119 after intersection construction is complete, but no installation date was provided. The packet says bikes checked out in Longmont are expected to work with Boulder’s B-Cycle system. It does not provide discounted fares, an equity program or other specific equity outcomes.
RTD plans to increase AL Airport-to-Longmont service beginning Sept. 27, 2026. The route is planned to run hourly every day from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., traveling from the 8th Avenue and Coffman Street area through Niwot and Lafayette to Denver International Airport. Final schedules had not been posted at the time of the briefing. A survey of 257 respondents found that 98% expected the change to have a positive impact, while 1% expected no impact and 1% expected a negative impact; those figures measure anticipated reactions, not ridership or demographic outcomes. Exact fares, trip times and vehicle capacity were not provided.