NIWOT — Drivers traveling between Boulder and Longmont on the Diagonal Highway may have noticed something unusual recently while nearing the intersection with Niwot Road: a pair of new road signs announcing they’ve reached Niwot’s city limits.
The problem? Niwot is not a city. It’s not even a town.
That portion of unincorporated Boulder County along Colorado 119 is technically a “census-designated place,” boasting a population of 4,006, according to the 2010 census.
The new signs can be traced back to construction work at the intersection of the highway and Niwot Road last year.
Community leaders in Niwot saw the roadwork as an opportunity to solve a problem.
“We made a request (for new signs) when the work was being done,” said Tony Santelli, owner of the Niwot Tavern and president of the Niwot Business Association. “You couldn’t see the Niwot sign. You had signs for the firehouse, for the sheriff’s office, a sign for this, a sign for that. …
“The signs were blocking the Niwot sign.”
So someone sent a request to the Colorado Department of Transportation to weed out the old signs and put up a new Niwot sign.
Niwot got a “city limit” sign, complete with an official elevation (5,095 feet).
“We are actually reordering those signs back to the ones that were there for years beforehand,” CDOT spokesman Jared Fiel said.
“We recycle all used signs,” Fiel added.
