North Loveland sidewalk project adds 1.25 miles of safer access near U.S. 287

A county-led sidewalk project in north Loveland added 1.25 miles of new sidewalk near U.S. 287 and 57th Street, creating safer connections for residents of nearby mobile home communities to bus stops, a regional trail underpass and shopping near Walmart.

During a Larimer County commissioners work session Monday, Abby Stapleton said the project was completed through a Colorado Department of Transportation grant secured and carried out by the county engineering department. She said the work addressed a stretch where residents had been walking along U.S. 287, which has a 55 mph speed limit, to reach transit stops and cross under the highway toward commercial areas. Stapleton showed before-and-after images and said the improvement now links the mobile home parks to those destinations "a little bit more safely than if they were walking on the roads."

The sidewalk project was highlighted as part of the county's Internal Climate Action, Resilience, and Education plan update under the section on mobility of goods, services and people. That portion of the update also reported that 348 feet of road shoulders were added in 2025, but Stapleton described the Loveland sidewalk as a separate accomplishment focused on pedestrian safety.

Chair Jody Shadduck-McNally said she had previously heard from a constituent in one of the mobile home parks who was worried about children walking to school bus stops near the roadway. She asked staff to look into where school bus stops are located around the project area and raised the idea of bringing the sidewalk slides to a Thompson School District meeting and adding the issue to an agenda. Shadduck-McNally said the project could be part of a broader student-safety discussion.

Stapleton said the new sidewalk connects to at least one school bus stop near the mobile home park. Shadduck-McNally said she also wanted to know whether other nearby stops still leave students walking close to traffic and said the issue might merit discussion among Thompson School District, Loveland and the county.