7.  Fort Collins Northeast Truck Route Feasibility Study: CSU Engineering Senior Design Project

A cursory feasibility study was conducted by a group of Colorado State University (CSU) Senior Engineering students to assess three potential truck route alternatives. The students were provided direction by faculty and staff at CSU and received information from local and state agencies for their study. The students reviewed previous studies, focusing primarily on the most recent Northeast Area Transportation Study (NEATS), and focused on three alternative routes:

• The current SH 14/US 287 route (Mulberry Street/Jefferson Street/Riverside Avenue/North College Avenue)

• An “upgraded” alternative as initially conceived by the NEATS project. This alternative (Alternative 1) focused on key intersection improvements to the current route alternative and is shown previously in Figure 4.

• A “new” alternative alignment (Alternative 3 shown in Figure 4) as initially conceived by the NEATS project. This route began at Lemay Avenue and continued to a new alignment approximately 1,000 feet east of Lemay Avenue. The new bypass then continued over existing Vine Drive and the railroad before moving north and west on new alignment ending at the intersection of Conifer Street and US 287 (North College Avenue).

The students compared the three alignments based on seven criteria:

• Initial Cost
• Maintenance Cost
• Business Impacts
• Longevity (life expectancy)
• Public Support
• Trucker Impacts
• Residential Impacts

The group concluded that, of the three alternatives examined, the upgraded current route was most feasible due to lower cost and greater public support. This recommendation is shown in Figure 6. They also concluded that these options were short-term at best and felt the only long-term solution was to move the truck route somewhere outside of the City of Fort Collins. The students noted that this long-term solution was not probable in the near future and recommended the upgraded current route as the most economical and attractive alternative.