A land swap for CU South would be a win-win

Hooray for Ruth Wright’s common sense proposal to do a land swap, exchanging CU South for “CU North!” The vacant city planning reserve property near U.S. 36 and North 26th Street strikes me as equivalent to, or better than, the CU South site for all of the university’s stated purposes. It would solve the ecological, recreational and traffic congestion problems everyone is worried about while allowing the city to erect the best flood barrier possible, unbeholden to any CU growth agenda.

A comparison between CU South and CU North is fairly easy to make. Google Maps reveals that the distance from Folsom Field to CU South is 3.2 miles, and the distance from Folsom Field to CU North (U.S. 36 & N. 26th St) is 3.6 miles. CU South is on a critical floodplain that is also a major ecological preserve, and it is adjacent to city neighborhoods likely to be impacted by the development of CU South. It also lacks a direct transit corridor to campus. CU North, on the other hand, is located on vacant municipal land far from any floodplain, with very few existing homes nearby, and it sits directly on a major transit corridor (28th Street) leading to the CU campus.

Such a land swap would make flood control efforts easier, avoid highly visible new buildings at the U.S. 36 gateway to the city, and preserve an ecological and recreational site cherished by many Boulder residents.

I am astonished and disappointed that the university has not seized this chance for a “winwin” solution to the whole debacle. Instead, it has used the flood control issue to wrangle a city annexation agreement that it might never have gotten under other circumstances. I think CU North should be put back on the table.

— Dennis Mcgilvray, Boulder