Grantee Highlight: Safe Streets Boulder

Safe Streets Boulder is a transportation safety initiative by the City of Boulder to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities resulting from traffic collisions. The latest Safe Streets Boulder records show that nearly half of all collisions within the city occur at intersections, and that crosswalks are the most common locations for collisions between motor vehicles and bicyclists or pedestrians. People walking and biking are over-represented in these serious and fatal crashes –  8 percent of traffic collisions in Boulder involve a bicyclist or pedestrian, and these collisions account for 60 percent of serious injury and fatal collisions.

In an effort to eliminate these collisions, the Heads-Up campaign was created. The campaign focuses on education and enforcement of three crosswalk-safety ordinances that require:

• Pedestrians and bicyclists to activate the flashing lights at crosswalks before entering the road, or face a $50 fine
• Bicyclists to slow to 8 mph or less as they approach, enter and traverse a crosswalk at all intersections, or face a $50 fine
• Drivers approaching a crosswalk to stop and wait for a crossing pedestrian, or face a $125 fine and receive four points on their driving records

This year, Safe Streets Boulder will have three education and enforcement focused weeks where “Heads-Up Ambassadors” will give out information and administer surveys about the ordinances. The campaign has been garnering recognition from the media, and has been featured on the City of Boulder’s Channel 8, Fox 31 Denver and in the Boulder Daily Camera.

The City of Boulder and University of Colorado police will focus education and enforcement efforts at select intersections and crosswalks near campus that are identified as high crash locations. Safe Streets Boulder’s Heads-Up campaign is a City of Boulder and CDOT Traffic Safety Grant funded campaign. The City of Boulder collaborates with Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) and University of Colorado Boulder to implement the program.