Superior approves $600,000 88th Street improvements as endpoint and timing remain unsettled

Superior Town Council unanimously approved a resolution Aug. 24 authorizing a proposed agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation for bicycle and pedestrian improvements along 88th Street between Superior and Louisville, the meeting recording shows.

The project is estimated at $600,000, including $540,000 from the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program and a $60,000 contribution from Superior. The design phase will determine the final requirements and attributes, so the resolution does not specify facility dimensions or construction details.

Superior would manage design and construction administration, including environmental and right-of-way requirements, public involvement, bidding, inspections and traffic control. The town also would maintain and operate the completed improvements, while CDOT would oversee the local agency and authorize funding by phase.

The agreement cannot take effect until Superior raises or allocates its $60,000 local share. The draft agreement reviewed by the council listed no funds as available. Design and construction funding would become available through an executed option letter or formal amendment.

The project’s endpoint and schedule remain unsettled. Staff told the council that the original grant application envisioned a separated, raised concrete multi-use path from Promenade Drive to Campus Drive. Louisville instead prefers the path to end at Rock Creek Circle, also called Rock Creek Extension and identified in the meeting discussion as the current Tape Drive. If that endpoint is used, a gap would remain between Rock Creek Circle and Campus Drive, with bicyclists and pedestrians relying on existing facilities for that segment.

Superior staff said the 88th Street work was being targeted for completion before the next school year. Louisville had reported that trails through the Redtail Ridge development were scheduled for 2029 and could not yet provide an earlier date. Louisville said it would work with the developer to try to accelerate the work. The planned Redtail Ridge route would include trails and a pedestrian underpass connecting the Monarch campus and Redtail Ridge; staff said the underpass was under construction but behind schedule.

Staff described finishing design by spring and construction the following summer as goals, not an adopted schedule. The draft agreement identifies design and construction phases in federal fiscal year 2027 without setting a start date. The town’s current project information, however, describes the HSIP award as a fiscal 2029 project and says Superior was seeking acceleration. Before reimbursable work begins, the town would need formally encumbered funds, a phase start date and CDOT’s written notice to proceed.

Superior’s planned interim treatment includes a flex-post buffered bike lane from Promenade Drive to just south of Campus Drive, refreshed bike-lane striping and bike entry and exit ramps near Promenade Drive and Campus Drive. The town’s January newsletter said the flex posts would allow sidewalks to be used exclusively by pedestrians rather than shared with cyclists. No official source reviewed for this update identifies a dedicated detour for the potential Rock Creek Circle-to-Campus Drive gap. Boulder Valley School District transportation information lists general travel options for Louisville Middle School but does not designate a temporary route for the gap.

The council’s approval does not establish the final endpoint, a construction start date or when the Redtail Ridge connections will open. A signed agreement and final design were not included in the public materials reviewed.