Fremont Recpath

Summit County Extension Design Narrative

Section 1 Project Description

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Summit County Extension Design Narrative

1.0 Introduction

The Fremont Recreational Pathway (Fremont Recpath or Path) is a collaborative effort of Summit and Lake Counties, Colorado (Counties), and the Climax Molybdenum Company (Climax, and collectively the Parties), to explore a potential regional, multi- modal, separated recreational Pathway alignment connecting the pathway systems of the two Counties and passing through properties on Fremont Pass owned and mined by Climax.

Through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) executed on May 15, 2014 (Appendix 1), the Counties and Climax expressed the mutual concern for the safety of cyclists and motorists sharing the roadway over Fremont Pass, and recognized the importance of the development of a separated regional recreational Pathway for multi- modal use as an important quality of life, safety enhancement, economic development, and community partnering opportunity.

This Design Narrative is intended to: identify the design criteria that guided layout of Pathway alignments on the ground; identify the types of topographic, geologic, and hydrologic constraints encountered along the alignments; establish preferred and alternative routes; and to reference planning assumptions made in the field as they relate to anticipated engineering solutions that would allow for pathway construction of the Summit County Extension of the Fremont Recpath.

1.1 General Location: Fremont Recpath

The conceptual alignment of the proposed Fremont Recpath is illustrated on Map 1. As depicted, the alignment would roughly parallel State Highway 91 over Fremont Pass, connecting the Mineral Belt Trail in Lake County to the Tenmile Canyon Recpath at Copper Mountain in Summit County. For reference, CDOT Mileposts (MP) along Highway 91 were used to approximate the intersecting points on of pathway segments.

For planning purposes, the Fremont Recpath is divided into three jurisdictional zones:

1) The Lake County segment of the path, from the intersection of Highways 91 and 24 in Leadville (at MP 0.00), to the southern boundary of Climax properties (at MP 9.58).

2) The Climax segment of the pathway that passes over the summit of Fremont Pass through Climax properties (MP 9.58 to MP 18.22); and,

3) The Summit County Extension, running in a northerly direction from the northern boundary of Climax properties (at MP 18.22) to the Tenmile Creek Recpath at Copper Mountain (at MP 21.18).

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Map 1 General Location, Fremont Pass Recpath

*Conceptual alignment – subject to field verification and revision 3 Fremont Recpath

Summit County Extension Design Narrative

1.2 Existing Condition

State Highway 91 provides the only direct intermodal connection between Summit and Lake Counties, Colorado. The MOU expresses the mutual concern of the Parties that Highway 91 does not provide a safe corridor for accommodating vehicular and bicycle traffic.

State Highway 91 is a 22.61 mile segment of two-lane, minor arterial road, connecting U.S. Highway 24 in Leadville Colorado (MP 0.00) to Interstate-70 at Wheeler Junction (Copper Mountain, MP 22.61). The road is a designated National Truck Route, and is also one leg of the Top of the Rockies National Scenic and Historic Byway.

The highway crosses the Continental Divide at the summit of Fremont Pass, passing through mountainous terrain at elevations ranging from 9,712 at Copper Mountain to 11,318 feet above sea level at Climax, on the summit of the Pass.

Posted highway speeds are 65 miles per hour over most of Highway 91, with the exception of several areas of curvilinear alignment where decreased speeds (45 mph) are indicated.

Plate 1 Existing condition, MP 20 Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) on the Summit County side of Fremont Pass is approximately 4,000 vehicles per day, of which 7.7% are trucks. Paved lane surfaces are reduced from 12 to 11 feet for sustained distances (MP 19 through 21.6), and existing shoulder widths range from 1 to 8 feet1. Road grades reach a maximum of 7% slope in several sustained segments. Eleven foot wide traffic lane, steep grades, and limited shoulder width

1 Colorado Department of Transportation, Online Transportation Information System 4 Fremont Recpath

Summit County Extension Design Narrative

Highway 91 is a popular bicycle route for experienced road riders seeking the challenge of its distance and vertical gain, and has historically been part of the route selection for events such as Ride the Rockies, the Copper Triangle, and the Courage Classic.

Plate 2 Bicyclists crossing the Continental Divide on Highway 91, Summit County, Colorado

Highway 91 over Fremont Pass is part of the highly traveled “Copper Triangle” Route

Colorado’s State Transportation Improvement Plan, as well as the Intermountain Regional Transportation Plan and Colorado Counties Inc., District Goals have all identified Colorado Highway 91 as a High Priority Bicycle Corridor. Summit County’s Countywide Comprehensive Plan, Tenmile Master Plan, and Copper Mountain’s Sub-Basin Plan, document Summit County’s goal and intent to provide a recreational Pathway to the summit of Fremont Pass. Lake County’s Comprehensive Plan and Bicycle Trail Master Plan provide the same goal and intent on the south side of Fremont Pass.

Plate 3 Highway 91, MP 20 Steep climbing grades, narrow shoulder widths, mountainous terrain, close proximity to high speed vehicular traffic, and increased traffic volumes resulting from the designation of the roadway as a National Scenic and Historic Byway, coupled with the re-opening of the Climax Mine, combine to limit the perception of comfort, safety, and operational effectiveness of Highway 91 to act as a shared road. Experienced bicyclists “taking the lane” through the “Narrows”

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1.3 Bicycle Level of Service

The bicycle and pedestrian Level of Service (LOS) determination is a nationally recognized measurement of bicyclist and pedestrian perceived comfort and safety levels with respect to motor vehicle traffic while traveling in a shared road corridor. It is considered a performance grade of how well a roadway accommodates bicycle and pedestrian modes of travel.

The 2010 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) published by the Transportation Research Board, a division of the United States National Research Council, provides methodologies for calculating bicycle Level of Service (BLOS) for a variety of roadway types. The HCM methodology provides an excellent model for evaluating the Summit County Extension of the Fremont Recpath in that it is nationally recognized and provides quantifiable analysis using measurable roadway characteristics and traffic conditions that are important to bicyclists’ and pedestrians’ perceptions of safety and accommodation.

Table 1 provides a Bicycle Compatibility Index (BCI) and Bicycle Level of Service (BLOS) calculation for the Summit County section of Fremont Pass between mile markers 18.582 and 21.642, locally referred to as “the Narrows.

Table 1

Road Name Description of Data Fields SH 91 Mile 18.582 – 21.642

Lanes per direction 1 Through lanes per direction Curb Lane Width 1 Width of Outside Lane, to outside stripe (feet) Shoulder/Bike Lane Width 0 Paved shoulder/bike lane outside stripe to pavement edge (feet) Bi-Directional ADT 4000 Bi-directional traffic volume in ADT (Average Daily Traffic) Speed Limit 65 Posted Speed Limit (mph) % Heavy Trucks 7 Percentage of Heavy Trucks Pavement Condition (5 best) 5 FHWA’s pavement condition rating (1-5, 1=worst, 5= best) % on-street parking 0 Percentage of road with on-street parking Parking Time Limit 0 On-street parking time limit 1= residential, 0= not resident 0 Goes through residential area (1=residential, 0= commercial, rural or other)

Bicycle Compatibility Index 6.524 Extremely Low SH 91 Mile 18.582 – 21.642 5.938 Extremely Low Bicycle Level of Service

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Calculations are based on the following formula:

Bicycle LOS = a1ln (Vol15/Ln) + a2SPt(1+10.38HV)2 + a3(1/PR5)2 + a4 (We)2 + C

Where: Vol15 = Volume of directional traffic in 15 minute time period Vol15 = (ADT x D x Kd) / (4 x PHF) where: ADT = Average Daily Traffic on the segment or link D = Directional Factor Kd = Peak to Daily Factor PHF = Peak Hour Factor

Ln = Total number of directional through lanes SPt = Effective speed limit

SPt = 1.1199 ln(SPp - 20) + 0.8103

where: SPp = Posted speed limit (a surrogate for average running speed)

HV = percentage of heavy vehicles (as defined in the 1994 Highway Capacity Manual) PR5 = FHWA’s five point pavement surface condition rating We = Average effective width of outside through lane:

where: We = Wv - (10 ft x % OSPA) and Wl = 0 We = Wv + Wl (1 - 2 x % OSPA) and Wl > 0 & Wps= 0 We = Wv + Wl - 2 (10 x % OSPA) and Wl > 0 & Wps> 0 and a bike lane exists

where: Wt = total width of outside lane (and shoulder) pavement OSPA = percentage of segment with occupied on-street parking Wl = width of paving between the outside lane stripe and the edge of pavement Wps= width of pavement striped for on-street parking Wv = Effective width as a function of traffic volume and: Wv = Wt if ADT > 4,000veh/day Wv = Wt(2-0.00025 x ADT) if ADT ≤ 4,000veh/day, and if the street/ road is undivided and unstriped

a1: 0.507 a2: 0.199 a3: 7.066 a4: - 0.005 C: 0.760 (a1 - a4) are coefficients established by multi-variate regression analysis. 7 Fremont Recpath

Summit County Extension Design Narrative

The Bicycle LOS score resulting from the equation is stratified into service categories “A, B, C, D, E, and F” (according to the ranges shown in Table 2) to reflect users’ perception of the road segment’s level of service for bicycle travel, where an A demonstrates the highest level of comfort, and F demonstrates the lowest level of service.

Table 2 grades LOS values for State Highway 91 between Mile 18.582 and 21.642.

Table 2 LOS Values

LOS LOS Score A < 2.00 B >2.00 – 2.75 C >2.75-3.50 D >3.50 – 4.25 E >4.25 – 5.00 F >5.00 SH 91 Mile 18.582 – 21.642 2 5.938

The failing BLOS and BCI scores for the Summit County section of State Highway 91 between Climax property and Copper Mountain serve to quantify the MOU assertion that the safety and comfort levels on the corridor are “Extremely Low”, and support the development of a separated Path as a means of improving intermodal connectivity and safety between Summit and Lake Counties.

The development of a separated Pathway also satisfies the intent of the parties to improve on the unique aesthetic experience of riding across the spine of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, by reducing the physical proximity, visual influence, and auditory impacts of riding in the vehicular traffic stream. A separated Pathway affords the opportunity to direct one’s concentration to the unique alpine environment, changing ecosystems, historic context, and majestic peaks, rather than to the survival response of sharing the riding surface with speeding vehicles.

Improving the BLOS could further serve to increase the ridership between the Counties by opening up a riding experience that can be enjoyed by a broader cohort of the recreational community, while reducing the frustration levels of vehicular travelers over having to share the road with slower moving modes of transportation. Pedestrian use along the corridor, which is currently almost non-existent, could also be encouraged by the separation of the walking / hiking Path from vehicular traffic.

2 Calculated by Jason Lederer, Summit County Trails and Open Space, using HCM formula 8 Fremont Recpath

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1.4 Conformance with Statewide Goals

Parties to the MOU believe that development of the Fremont Recpath is in conformance with, and supports the intermodal transportation goals of the State of Colorado.

Plate 4 Statewide Plan

The Colorado Department of Transportation developed the Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan in 2012 to inform and guide the conversation on planning and development of bicycle and pedestrian pathways as part of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP). The Plan includes the goals of increasing safety for bicyclists and pedestrians and increasing the use of these modes of transportation. It also addresses the benefits of biking and walking activities, including reducing reliance on fossil fuels, reducing emissions, improving health, expanding recreational opportunities, improving regional and local economies, and ultimately enhancing our quality of life.

The Plan states that: “Better accommodation of active transportation, such as bicycling and walking, plays a tangible role in Colorado’s economic health. Providing more varied and appealing access to Colorado’s rich history, historic towns and natural beauty by enhancing bicycle access to Scenic Byways, for example, will help the states tourism sector, which is so important to the state’s economy.”

The preferred alignment of the Summit County extension of the Fremont Pass Path would overlay one of the state’s most significant historic transportation corridors, the DSP&P Railroad’s High Line to Leadville, while paralleling the Top of the Rockies National Scenic and Historic Byway (Hwy 91), and providing an intermodal recpath connection linking the historic towns of Leadville, Frisco, Dillon, and Breckenridge.

The Plan further states that, “Preserving and enhancing the outdoor and active recreational lifestyle of Colorado residents through provision of bicycling and walking facilities offers widespread benefits”, including reductions in congestion and greenhouse gasses, increases in household disposable income, and the ongoing promotion of community health.

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The development of the Fremont Recpath would connect the path systems of the Blue, Arkansas, and Colorado River Basins, ultimately linking intermodal pathways from Glenwood Springs and Aspen, through Vail and Summit County, and south through Leadville to Salida, resulting in a path system of international scope and importance. This qualifies the Fremont Recpath an integral part of the State Transportation Improvement Plan.

Plate 5 Multiple Use Recpath

The development of a separated Pathway also opens up recreational opportunities for activities that are not safe or appropriate on State Highways, and provides a level of service that accommodates a broader segment of the recreational community.

Skate boarder and cyclists sharing the Tenmile Canyon multiple use pathway

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