Berthoud Weekly Surveyor | Covering all the angles in the Garden Spot

Great news for Berthoud

By: Will Karspeck | The Surveyor | January 15, 2021 | Local News

I am excited to announce that late last week Berthoud was awarded 6.5 million dollars of federal stimulus funds to complete our mobility hub at the State Highway 56 and I25 Intersection.

Mayor Will Karspeck

A mobility hub is a modern take on a bus stop. In this case, the hub is designed for the CDOT Bustang, which takes commuters to Union Station on a comfortable coach bus and uses the express lane to avoid traffic congestion. The Bustang will be able to pick-up and drop-off Berthoud passengers without ever leaving Interstate 25. Where traditionally a bus would have to exit the Interstate and find a parking area to pick up and drop off passengers, then take the on-ramp to get back on the interstate, this mobility hub will allow the Bustang to enter into a special “center load lane” in the center of the interstate. Passengers will then take a special pedestrian tunnel underneath the interstate and walk to a side parking area.

Back in 2017, when the mobility hub idea came around, only Berthoud and Fort Collins requested such an innovative hub.  Loveland liked our idea so much that they partnered with McWhinney and then lobbied for federal funds to get their own.  Now, with much effort and many meetings within the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), I am excited to announce that ours will soon be underway and be constructed in tandem with the new express lane improvements and the new on and off-ramps at the State Highway 56/I25 interchange.

I want to express a sincere thank you to Suzette Mallette and the North Front Range MPO Team, our CDOT Regional Transportation Director Heather Paddock and her team, and our CDOT Transportation Commissioner Kathleen Bracke and the rest of the Transportation Commission for approving this.  It is really impressive how Heather and Suzette put forth this project into a package for the Transportation Commission to vote on given only a two-week window to do so. It took a lot of staff resources, long days, and their weekends to make this package for the Transportation Commission to review.  I thought through our long-standing push that we stood a decent chance at some sort of funding for the project, but the full commitment level at 6.5 million is amazing.

The Hub comes at a great time as this year we will be hiring a consultant to partner with RAFT and other regional transportation providers to re-envision the Berthoud Area Transportation System. I can certainly see a regular BATS shuttle going out to I25 to pickup and drop-off Berthoud commuters taking the Bustang.

Our view of the Front Range just got more convenient, comfortable, and more sustainable!

related Local News