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tl~, 3fi ~ or~r.inor~ ,., ,., ,, Project No. NH 0361-070(14133) FINAL U.S. 36 PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION June 11, 2008 The U.S. 36 Preferred Alternative Committee (PAC), a 21-member group comprised of agency representatives, elected officials and technical staff from local jurisdictions, was charged with collaboratively developing a `combination' alternative for the U.S. 36 Corridor using elements evaluated during the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that, after additional analysis to verify that the selected elements effectively perform and achieve the project's goals, would be adopted as a Preferred Alternative that will be carried through the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. BACKGROUND The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Regional Transportation District (RTD), in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, have been studying multi-modal transportation improvements between Denver and Boulder in the US 36 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) since 2003. A Draft EIS was released in August 2007 that evaluated a variety of transportation solutions within two "build" packages and a "no build" alternative for the U.S. 36 Corridor. The majority of public comments received during the Draft EIS sought a transportation solution that further reduced the community and environmental impacts, decreased project cost, and that still provided for increased mobility improvements. Given the next step in the EIS process was to incorporate public comments, identify a preferred alternative and outline implementation phases, the agencies approached corridor municipalities in 2007 to complete this step in a collaborative manner. The U.S. 36 PAC was established to consider public comment, and identify an alternative consisting of the elements outlined in the Draft EIS that would be advanced through the National Environmental Policy Act process in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to a Record of Decision. RECOMMENDATION The U.S. 36 PAC is recommending a'combination' alternative that is responsive to public comments and long-term transportation needs that, after additional analysis, is expected to be adapted as the Preferred Alternative. The following describes the components of this multi-modal recommendation: Transif Ramp and side-loading stations supported by parking facilities and local transit services, with specific premium components to support Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) operations. This could include, but is not limited to: special vehicles, prepayment technology to facilitate efficient loading, service image and identity treatments such as bus wraps, signal pre- emption, specialized marketing and transportation demand management. Facilities should include multi-modal connections to the existing and planned transportation infrastructure. BRT Access to Table Mesa that consists of a transition of the Express Lane to a General Purpose Lane at a point west of Cherryvale Road. This lane would change the regulatory designation from Express to General Purpose and would result in a continuous through lane to 28~h Street. This access requires only none-lane traffic weave to the westbound 36 BRT side-platform ramp. Page 1 of 3