By Greg Avery
Camera Staff Writer

A planned welcoming landscape for drivers coming into Boulder from the south on U.S. 36 will be dulled by drought this year.

The city's $10 million "Hello Boulder" project to widen and beautify 28th Street between Baseline Road and Arapahoe Avenue included $1.5 million in landscaping to make the area look nice.

The first phase of the project is scheduled to start this week and was to include half of the new planting this year.

City water restrictions and a plea to postpone new landscaping because of drought prompted officials to put off planting for at least a year, leaving drivers to look at mulch and dirt as they come into Boulder.

"There was no way we could do it this year," said Stephany Westhusin, city project manager. "It'll look a little bare for a while."

The city's landscaping plans along 28th Street included low-water, drought-resistant plants, but they would have required daily watering to get established, she said.

The project will add a southbound traffic lane on 28th Street between Arapahoe Avenue and the overpass at Baseline Road, requiring the widening of the bridge over Boulder Creek.

Northbound traffic also will get three lanes in spots along that stretch, while second left turn lanes will be added for access to Colorado and Arapahoe avenues.

A new bike path will be built along the west side of 28th Street, and a bike lane and detached sidewalk will be added to the frontage road on the east side.

The road, median, sidewalk and overall earthwork on the east side of 28th Street between the Baseline Road overpass and Boulder Creek is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Work on the west side of the road and improvements north of Boulder Creek are scheduled to be done next year.

"Hopefully, next spring, given the water situation, we'll be able to put in the plant material," Westhusin said.

The city plans to complete the earthwork and irrigation systems associated with the 28th Street landscaping this year and then add the plants once water restrictions are lifted.

Boulder will pay $7 million of the overall cost of the road project, while the federal government and Regional Transportation District are funding the rest.

Contact Greg Avery at (303) 473-1307 or averyg@thedailycamera.com.

May 26, 2002

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