Accomplishments in 2024

Updated December 22, 2024

What follows are select accomplishments by the City of Boulder in 2024 that meaningfully involved City Council. For a wider view of the City’s accomplishments, see the 2024 Year in Review.

SAFE, WELCOMING STREETS FOR ALL: Make streets safe and welcoming for people of all ages and abilities to get around.

1. Approved conversion of Iris Ave from a four-lane road to a modern multimodal street with a two-way protected bikeway.

2. Approved resolution to reaffirm the city’s commitment to Vision Zero, which includes supporting staff efforts to deploy safety treatments expeditiously and streamline community engagement.

3. Helped secure Colorado state law to fund projects to protect vulnerable road users (SB 195) and require that phones used during driving are hands-free (SB 6).

4. Expanded automated traffic law enforcement at three locations including the installation and activation of two new red-light cameras at 28th Street/US 36 and Jay Road and at 15th Street and Canyon Boulevard as well as activating speed enforcement cameras at Broadway and Pine Street.

5. Reprogrammed lighting control system in all multi-use path underpasses so that all lights are on 24/7 to support safety and comfort for people walking, rolling and biking.

6. Launched public-facing public safety dashboard providing a comprehensive overview of fatal and serious bodily injury traffic crashes, detailing their progression from initial cause to final adjudication. 

7. Launched initiatives to unfold in 2025 that include additional safety- and accessibility-enhancing upgrades to arterials, signals pedestrian treatments, and other treatments; wider rollout of automated. enforcement; and legislative advocacy including state policy to protect vulnerable road users by allowing cities to assess fees for vehicle weight.
   

TRANSPORTATION CHOICES: Give community members more affordable transportation choices they need while improving quality of life consistent with climate-resilient development.

1. Launched and implemented equity-based e-bike incentives program reaching 1,500 residents.

2. Expand transit service, including an additional morning and afternoon service from Boulder to Nederland and reinstatement of 30-minute airport frequency (AB1) plus a new airport route from downtown operating at 28th/Canyon planned in 2025.

3. Helped secure Colorado state laws to fund Front Range Passenger Rail (SB 184) and fare-free rides for high ozone days and youth (SB 32) as well as Colorado state ballot initiative for RTD funding intended to  expand RTD services.

4. Started construction of a bikeway from Boulder to Longmont on Diagonal Highway (Highway 119).

5. Launched initiatives to unfold in 2025 that include improve mobility connections between downtown and the university hill area as well as state legislative advocacy for transit funding.

6. Explored and will continue to explore initiatives to fund and expand transit services as well as reduce bike theft.

HOUSING AND LAND USE: Create more housing of the kind we need to make Boulder inclusive and resilient, especially by unlocking new infill middle-housing consistent with developing a more resource-efficient, compact community.

1. Approved site reviews for a total of 487 housing units including 324 permanently affordable housing units and approved concept reviews for another 761 units.

2. Removed Boulder’s limit on residential growth.

3. Launched the Family-Friendly Vibrant Neighborhoods program to create a package of policies to legalize greater numbers and kinds of housing within the city, especially near downtown and transit connections.

4. Helped secure Colorado state laws to restrict parking minimums (HB 1304), facilitate the construction of accessory dwelling units (HB 1152), increase the allowability of housing in transit-oriented communities (HB 1313), and eliminate housing occupancy limits based on familial relationships (SB 1007).

5. Enhanced customer service in the Planning and Development Services Department by streamlining development review processes, optimizing submission procedures for clarity and efficiency, and transitioning applications and guidelines to web-based formats to meet digital accessibility standards.

6. Contributed to the development of a housing needs assessment study by the Denver Regional Council of Governments making the way for strategic collaboration with municipalities around the region to alleviate housing pressure and associated dysfunction throughout the Front Range.

7. Approved a plan to move forward a 20-year agreement to bring affordable, market-rate broadband internet to 97% of the city by 2030.

8. Adopted an update to the Public and Chronic Nuisance laws to better define nuisance conditions and consequences, including for those properties exhibiting extreme repetition in generating violations and ensure property owner accountability for life-safety and quality of life conditions.

9. Launched initiatives to unfold in 2025 that include finalization of “Family-friendly” zoning initiative to upzone and drive transit-oriented development; update to Boulder’s policies around parking and transportation demand management (TDM), development of definitions and policies around “access” and “15-minute neighborhoods” for onward planning; improvement of manufactured/mobile home support; and liberation of additional middle housing through the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, Area III study, and subcommunity plans and code changes (e.g. East Boulder Subcommunity Plan and Form-Based Code.

ELECTRIFICATION AND OTHER ENERGY SYSTEMS: Continue to modernize policies, practices, and programs around energy systems in Boulder’s approach.

1. Adopted a new energy code requiring all-electric equipment in new buildings.

2. Launched and implemented equity-based e-bike incentives program reaching 1,500 residents (also mentioned above).

3. Installed 26 new electric charging ports at five different locations across the city. Twenty-two of the 26 are for city fleet vehicles, and four provide access for the community.

4. Improved electric vehicle charging infrastructure maintenance processes and performance that have led to a 10% increase in utilization, supporting 550 additional charging sessions per month in comparison to 2024.

5. Helped secure nearly $1 billion in federal and utility funding that will be invested in building decarbonization through energy efficiency improvements and heat pump adoption in the region over the next 5 years.

6. Launched initiatives to unfold in 2025 that include improving safeguards and collaboration around Public Safety Power Shutoffs prompted by Xcel.

NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS AND NATURE-COMPATIBLE LIVING: Advance holistic, science-based, leading approaches to living with nature.

1. Completed the final step in approval for the South Boulder Creek Flood Mitigation project,  transferring 2.2 acres of city Open Space and Mountain Parks department land to the Utilities department (March 21), and aiming to keep 2,300 Boulderites and 1,100 homes out of harm’s way with lessons from the  2013 flood. 

2. Launched a new text message program to keep community members informed when the Emergency Operations Center is activated for a disaster. The program allows the city and county to share timely updates on incidents, community resources, road closures, shelters, and impacts. Messages are available in over 100 languages via the ReachWell translation app. 

3. Launched initiatives to unfold in 2025 that include updating the city’s program of wildfire hardening and program of landscaping water conservation (December 12).

SOLUTIONS FOR HOMELESSNESS AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH: Prevent homelessness and help those experiencing homelessness to be safe, dignified, and have access to services that help get those affected on the track they need.

1. Contributed to the recently-launched working group led by the county that aims to advance regional homelessness solutions.

2. Launched the CARE program to provide non-police first responders to some 911 and non-emergency calls with a team that consists of a behavioral health clinician, paramedic, and intensive case management personnel.

3. Launched a Day Services Center for individuals experiencing homelessness, giving unhoused community members a safe place and access to potentially life-changing services during the day.

4. Launched initiatives to unfold 2025 that include intergovernmental advocacy with the county to advance funding and other solutions around housing, homelessness, behavioral health, and other human services at the state and county level.

INCLUSIVE AND EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT: Make Boulder’s city government inclusive and effective.

1. Increased Boulder City Council pay starting to 40% of area median income (about triple the current level) with next elected cohort.

2. Launched an update to the city’s climate action plan which has introduced a new focus on compact land use and transportation choices and also intends to deepen the city’s work with system change, add new commitments around integration of climate action throughout city functions, and take stock of and respond to the changing energy landscape.

3. Advanced development of the city’s long-term financial strategy, which includes attention to climate headwinds, and will continue to evolve in 2025.

4. Launched other initiatives to unfold in 2025 that include an experimental “community forum” meeting format that is centered on significant direct input from community members and improvements to City Council processes that make meetings more productive and accessible.

5. Continued to pursue our lawsuit against oil companies Exxon and Suncor for deceiving the public about climate change which will continue to unfold in 2025.