Big Springs Egress Project

Located in the southeast part of Nederland, the Big Springs neighborhood is home to approximately 200 residents. A need for an emergency egress from the neighborhood during a forest fire was identified by the US Forest Service due to the limited access from the east end of the neighborhood to highway 119. It is currently estimated that it can take 45 minutes to evacuate the neighborhood in an emergency event.

Town will be working with our on-call engineers, JVA, to complete additional planning activities for a viable egress route from the Big Springs neighborhood.

Project Background

The recent wildfires in the Peak-to-Peak region are a reminder of the need to continue to pursue an emergency egress out of Big Springs. Three routes have been evaluated over the years; however the Nederland Board of Trustees identified that additional routes need to be assessed, as there are noted concerns with each of the three proposed routes.

Big Springs is service by Town's water facility and there is critical infrastructure throughout the neighborhoods. If damaged or destroyed it would the Town's ability to pump water to this area for firefighting use and consumption. While there has not been a fire in Nederland, within the last 6 years there has been two major fires in the communities neighboring Nederland, both of which demonstrated how devastating a wildfire can be and the importance of ensuring egress access to lessen the risk of lives lost.

Current Identified Routes

The following are the routes that have already been identified:

• Ridgeline Route:
  • The proposed Ridgeline Route (what is referred to int he CPAW document as the Doe Trail Egress Route) includes a preferred access and an alternate access from Doe Trail, which will connect to an established fuel break that is on Boulder County Open Space land and National Forest land. From the perspective of safety and minimal ecological disturbance, the best access for the Doe Trail requires a connection through private land and Boulder County Open Space land (CPAW, 202, p. 15).
  • The challenge with this route is that a driveway that is used to access four houses would need to be a part of the egress route. Town staff met with some of the neighbors off the driveway about this route and they shared their concerns regarding the true feasibility of this route, as well as the potential negative impacts it will have on them. The neighbors requested that Town continue to evaluate other routes that do not require using private property to access them.
• Doe Trail Route:
  • The alternative access for the Doe Trail Egress Route commences at a riparian area and then negotiates a steep slope to access the ridge and established fuel break on National Forest land. Mitigation of the riparian area will be required, which will likely require the construction of a bridge, to establish a viable access from the Doe Trail road. Additionally, significant engineering and cut and fill road building to achieve a connection with the National Forest land is likely (CPAW, 202, p. 15).
• Wildewood Route:
  • The Wildewood Egress route is proposed to extend form the end of Wildewood Lane and follow an abandoned jeep trail following a drainage to connect with Magnolia Drive. The construction of this route will require significant additional fill and cut, as well as significant and extensive fuel modification to ensure the route offers safe passage for passenger vehicles. This route follows terrain features that are conductive to potential of wildfire entrapment without significant vegetation modification. Furthermore, potential ongoing maintenance will be required for the mitigation of road surface erosion and slope stability challenge to maintain a passable road (CPAW, 202), p. 14).

Recent Colorado wildfires have taught us that landscape-scale fuels reductions efforts may have little effect on an aggressive fire, and while residential mitigation may indeed save some homes, the safety of residents depends upon effective evacuation before a fire reaches a neighborhood. In the Big Springs subdivision, there is additional concern that a house fire anywhere in the western half of the neighborhood could spread to the surrounding forest and cut off escape routes with no warning. The Town of Nederland believes that it is imperative that an alternate egress route be established from the eastern end of the Big Springs subdivision as soon as possible.