March 2023 Update

The Downtown Alternate Route Study was conducted to better understand Main Street traffic and to identify solutions for improving safety, managing traffic, and maintaining downtown vitality.

Downtown traffic data was collected in the fall of 2022, including intersection operations, daily traffic counts, and total trips between different locations. Current conditions for pedestrians, bicyclists, and trucks in and around downtown were also reviewed. Major findings and recommendations were presented to the Windsor Town Board for consideration in January 2023.

Key Analysis Observations & Conclusions

Two key datasets informed traffic analysis: intersection traffic counts and Bluetooth data. Figures below show what was observed. In the map on the right, red arrows indicate the number of vehicles which passed between the various pairs of observation points – 1,452 vehicles were recorded traveling between 11^th Street and 4^th Street along Main Street, for example.

Main Street is the busiest east-west street with over 16,000 vehicles per day
The busiest origin/destination pair is along Main Street between 11^th Street and 4^th Street
Most signalized intersections operate at acceptable levels of service

The current traffic volumes were also used to estimate future (2027 and 2040) traffic volumes in downtown. Analysis of this data, as well as a review of current conditions for pedestrians, bicyclists, and freight vehicles through downtown, resulted in the following key conclusions:

Congestion along Main Street will increase in the future as vehicle volumes grow (some improvements are planned)
Pedestrian and bicycle connectivity to and through downtown is limited
Trucks cannot be entirely eliminated from downtown due to state law and access needs for local businesses

Downtown Traffic Flow Evaluation

Following the downtown traffic analysis, six specific travel patterns involving Main Street were identified for more detailed study. The figure at right shows these paths.

The focus of this evaluation was to understand how many trips from each path could be redirected from Main Street to alternate routes if surrounding street improvements are made. The estimated potential for rerouting trips along each path is:

East-west trips along Main Street/Highway 302 (red) – up to 400 vehicles per day
Trips between the east and northwest (orange & dark green) – up to 225 vehicles per day
Trips between the southwest and northeast (light green) – up to 25 vehicles per day
Trips between southeast and northwest (light blue and purple) – up to 75 vehicles per day

Across all of the paths, the total estimated potential for rerouting trips from Main Street is up to 725 vehicles per day – less than 5% of Main Street’s average daily volume of 16,000 vehicles per day. Key findings from this evaluation include:

This amount of trip diversion will not substantially improve downtown traffic operations
A designated alternate route may not be warranted

Recommendations

Although the potential to reroute traffic from Main Street is limited, there are still steps Windsor can take to improve the overall roadway system, provide and enhance other streets, and improve safety in downtown, including:

Construct Weld County Road 70 between Highway 257 and Clydesdale Lane to complete the east-west roadway network
Construct the extension of Crossroads Boulevard east of Highway 257
Implement recommendations from the Windsor TMP to improve downtown walkability
Work with CDOT and surrounding communities to improve operations on alternate routes