Helen Burnside: CU Causing Our Community to Bust at the Seams

Despite numerous public comments from CU about being the “fabric of the Boulder community,” CU continues to ignore public concerns about capping enrollment numbers, development of CU South, capitalizing on their tax exempt status, and a lack of true community engagement. While many residents would agree that CU is an important fabric of the community, we must also recognize CU is causing our community to bust at the seams. To illustrate this, on May 1, CU released a draft concept plan for CU South to build a south campus consisting of faculty and student housing, research buildings, and sports fields. The 1,125 housing units proposed by CU could house 3,000 or more residents (based on dual occupancy of smaller units and 2-4 occupants in townhomes). This proposed development would increase the population of the south Boulder sub-community by 20 percent or more. This scale of development would not only change south Boulder forever, it would change the entrance into Boulder by significantly increasing traffic at the intersection of three of the busiest roads in Boulder (U.S. 36, Foothills Parkway, and Table Mesa/South Boulder Road). Neither CU nor the city has done adequate transportation studies to look at the impact of this proposed development on roads, bridges, or traffic. No mention of traffic mitigation has been made at any of the public hearings. In addition, if the proposed development of CU South occurs, taxpayers would continue to pay for the infrastructure needed to support CU’s growth. Currently, the intersection of U.S. 36 and Table Mesa is already at max capacity during rush hour; imagine adding 3,000 more pedestrians, cars and bikes to this system. There is only so much mending that can be done to our cities seams before the integrity and intent of Boulder is forgotten.

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