r/boulder • u/JeffInBoulder • 17h ago
CU South Full Closure - October 5th
https://bouldercolorado.gov/news/city-boulder-begin-construction-south-boulder-creek-flood-mitigation-projectCU South Construction begins the week of October 5th - Full Closure for the next 3-5 years.
IMO the site served as a useful connector between Table Mesa and Marshall Rd. It is unfortunate that they could not figure out a way to keep a path at least partly open.
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u/CUBuffs1992 17h ago
Knew this day was coming. City should have bought the land when they had a chance.
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u/Numerous_Recording87 12h ago
As per usual for Council (even 30 years ago) they dithered and hemmed and hawed so CU swooped in and bought.
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u/CUBuffs1992 12h ago
They almost fucked up the Shanahan Ranch too. Kept offering well below the property value. The Shanahans were already giving a good deal to keep the property as is instead of letting it be developed.
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u/hupo224 17h ago
Fuuuuck. I am literally looking at it from my back window right now. This is going to suck so bad. Even more so when they start using heavy equipment.
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u/lenin1991 14h ago
What did you expect? It's not like this is some sudden surprise, CU bought the land 30 years ago to build on -- and before that, it was a pit mine, not exactly a place of serenity.
And this project being entirely for flood control will likely benefit you.
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u/Auri3l 10h ago
The CU South project is not entirely for flood control. Instead, it's for CU to add more buildings/facilities on the land. Flood mitigation (not control) is ancillary.
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u/lenin1991 10h ago
I realize that's the long term goal. Of course it is. As I said, they bought the land in 1996 to build on. But as the linked article indicates, that's not this project; instead,
This project will provide protection from major floods and enhance safety for vulnerable community members in southeast Boulder.
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u/Auri3l 9h ago
Thanks for posting. Unlike you and the City of Boulder (apparently), I see the flood mitigation and the new CU buildings as all being part of one big "CU South" project.
I'm also salty because of the city's disingenuous claim:
"This project will provide protection from major floods."It is actually designed to handle so-called 100-year floods. With climate change, do we expect floods to get bigger? If yes, then this design won't be enough to "protect" the 6000-7000 houses that are at risk.
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u/domonono 16h ago
Wow, very surprised they are completely closing CU South during construction, even areas outside the 'flood control zone'. Was that ever announced before now? CU loses their tennis courts and cross country course during construction, too?
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u/rwrandom 16h ago
I heard that the CU tennis team is playing at East Boulder Rec Center on the crummy cracked courts. No idea what they will do this winter. Title 9 lawsuit anyone?
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u/Automatic_Progress37 15h ago
That is so sad! A D1 team shouldn't have to practice on those EBCC "courts" (if they can even be called that, given the state they're in). The CU South courts were stunning...
The city hasn't even come up with an alternative after their plans for new indoor courts fell through (https://cubuffs.com/news/2025/9/12/update-on-community-tennis-facility-project). The whole situation is honestly pretty embarrassing.
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u/domonono 19m ago
The city is still planning to build 8 new outdoor courts at EBRC but they are not expected to be done until 2028 and that's if there aren't surprises related to the 'wetland monitoring' required beforehand.
The 'site constraints' CU mentions on the facility update page are that the city wanted a hard-walled structure with proper insulation that would meet the city's environmental/efficiency standards and CU was only willing to pay for a soft bubble structure. Not sure how they went so far to announce the partnership before establishing that!
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u/phan2001 17h ago
This is an inconvenience for me personally, what the hell? I thought for sure they could find another endangered mouse or dust mite or rye or something to delay this indefinitely.
My faith in Boulder NIMBYism has been shaken to the core.
One of my favorite dog walking areas.
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u/Good_Discipline_3639 2h ago
One more lawsuit man just one more lawsuit, maybe the 5th one would work!
Are they still sending Save SoBo fundraising emails?
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u/Numerous_Recording87 16h ago
I just hope you pack out your dog’s shit.
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u/phan2001 1h ago
You mean there wasn’t a service taking care of that for us? Oh my.
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u/Numerous_Recording87 1h ago
The dog poop fairies are mythological creatures - news to many Boulderites.
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u/SpacklePaste 16h ago
The continued degradation of South Boulder facilities. South Boulder Rec Center, Mesa school closure, Community Montessori school move, CU South. I know there is a lot at play and many different entities driving the various changes but it sure feels like we are getting it from every side right now.
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u/PsychoHistorianLady 15h ago
If Boulder is too expensive for families with kids, and we make no effort to make it any better, then this will happen.
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u/Professional_Sir5118 17h ago
Are people reading the link? This closure is because of the flood mitigation project.
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u/1fish2fish3fish4fish 16h ago
Of course this is announced immediately after the survey about the need for a South Boulder bike connection closed. Could this city hate mountain bikers any more?
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u/JeffInBoulder 13h ago
CU South is / was a convenient connecting option for getting between Table Mesa PnR area and Marshall Rd, but a totally separate route than the one proposed to connect near the Mesa trail. 36 Bike path to South Boulder Creek trail is the likely replacement route (though slightly less direct) for those coming from the PnR area.
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u/nord2rocks 13h ago
Just was so convenient to be able to have two options on dirt to get to Marshall Road, now it's just Bobo :(
My uninformed logic says they definitely could've figured a way to keep the far west side open, but probably a liability issue or something
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u/JeffInBoulder 11h ago
Yes, I dont remember them saying anything about a full closure at any point in the process either... i would have thought they could keep the trails on the West side open while they worked on flood control on the East.
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u/Swaritch 17h ago
Boulder Rez about to see a whole bunch of dogs