Boulder to Lafayette: CO 7 or South Boulder Road
Lafayette is 11 miles from Boulder by road, approximately, and CO 7 is the state highway that joins them: it leaves Boulder as Arapahoe Road, meets US 287 in Lafayette, rides US 287 south for about a mile, and turns east again as Baseline Road toward I-25 exit 229. South Boulder Road, which runs between Boulder and Lafayette, is the other way in.
US 287 is Lafayette's main road, north to Longmont and south to Broomfield and Denver. We give the arrival window on the call rather than in print, because the drive from our base in Boulder to Public Road is not the drive to the Northwest Parkway. The quote is figured the same way at any hour, holidays included.
Lafayette counted 30,411 people at the 2020 census on 9.41 square miles. Outside the city limits the Boulder County Sheriff patrols the unincorporated land, dispatched from the same center as Lafayette police, so a car that stops just past the line is still one phone call for you and one run for us.
US 287, Arapahoe, Baseline and the Parkway: the Lafayette roads we work
CDOT's CO 7 corridor study covered Arapahoe Road from US 287 east to 119th Street, and 119th Street down to Baseline, and counted 172 crashes at signalized intersections there between 2015 and 2019 - 120 with property damage only, 51 with injuries and 1 fatal - and 58 percent of them were rear-end collisions. Arapahoe Road and US 287 had the second-highest crash rate in the study area. The same report puts shoulders on that part of Arapahoe Road at typically 3 feet wide, narrower than a car.
West of 119th Street the three parallel roads carry about 32,700 vehicles a day between them: 12,600 on Baseline Road, 10,500 on Arapahoe Road and 9,600 on South Boulder Road. Around town, the calls come off these:
- US 287 - the main road through Lafayette, north to Longmont and south to Broomfield.
- CO 7 - Arapahoe Road on the west side, a mile of US 287, then Baseline Road east to I-25 exit 229.
- CO 42 - 95th Street, south from Arapahoe Road in northwest Lafayette toward Louisville, then back east on Empire Road to US 287 south of downtown.
- The Northwest Parkway - a toll road with an interchange at US 287 and Dillon Road, run by an authority whose members are Lafayette and Broomfield.
- Public Road - the historic downtown street, where a parked car with a flat battery needs a jump pack, not a hook.
Where the shoulder is narrow, the car may not get clear of the lane. Hazards on, and if it is blocking traffic or anyone is hurt, call 911 before you call us. Under C.R.S. 42-4-705, drivers passing a stopped tow truck showing yellow lights must move over a lane or, where they cannot, slow to a safe speed - presumed 25 mph or less on roads posted under 45 - so wait off the road and away from the car until the truck is set up.
Lafayette police, impound releases and residential snow
Lafayette has its own police department, dispatched through Boulder County Communications, whose non-emergency line is 303-441-4444. After an impound by Lafayette police, the city spells out the release: the registered owner comes to the police department in person with ID and proof of current insurance for a release form, and the impound lot needs that form before the car can leave. An owner without a valid license brings another driver who has one, and anyone collecting a car for its owner needs a notarized letter plus their own valid license. Lafayette Police Records answers at 303-665-5571, extension 2.
A tow from a private lot works differently. After a tow from an apartment complex, the PUC's first step is to check the property's tow signs and call the company on them; those nonconsensual tows fall under Colorado's towing rules, 4 CCR 723-6. A tow you order from us is the figure we quote before the truck moves, and the price of a tow you choose yourself lists what moves it.
Lafayette clears its primary and secondary routes first. Residential streets are plowed only after a storm leaves more than 10 inches of undrifted snow, and then down the middle, which the city warns can leave windrows across private driveways. The March 13-14, 2021 storm measured 21.0 inches a mile south-southwest of Lafayette, and a car that noses into a windrow after a storm like that needs a winch-out when the plow leaves a berm.
What we send to Lafayette, and what we ask first
On the call we need the road and the nearest cross street - Baseline and US 287, Arapahoe at 95th Street, Public Road downtown - plus the year, make and model, what happened, and where the car should go: a shop on US 287, a Boulder dealer or your driveway, and whether it will be open when we arrive. From those answers we pick the truck and give you one figure.
After a storm that stayed under 10 inches, a Lafayette residential street has not been plowed and is likely packed snow. Tell us, and the truck plans how it turns in and where it loads before it gets there.
Front-wheel-drive cars ride a wheel-lift. All-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles, electric cars and anything crash-damaged ride a flatbed with all four wheels off the road. Everything we run is light-duty, sized for cars, SUVs, pickups, vans and motorcycles, and if your vehicle is heavier than that, you hear it on the phone rather than at the curb. A collision at a Lafayette intersection is an emergency tow from a US 287 intersection, priced no differently at night.
Towing near Lafayette: Louisville, Erie, Longmont and Broomfield
Louisville, 9 miles from Boulder, is the neighbor along CO 42 and South Boulder Road, and Louisville towing via CO 42 has a page of its own. Erie is next door: east of US 287, the Town of Erie manages much of Arapahoe Road out to 119th Street. US 287 runs north to Longmont, 15 to 16 miles from Boulder, on our Longmont page, and south to Broomfield, at 13.
Frequently asked
How do I get my car back after Lafayette police impound it?
The registered owner goes to the Lafayette Police Department in person with ID and proof of current insurance to get a release form, and the impound lot needs that form before it releases the car. Lafayette Police Records is at 303-665-5571, extension 2.
Does Lafayette plow residential streets?
Only after a storm leaves more than 10 inches of undrifted snow, and only once the primary and secondary routes are clear. Crews plow down the middle, and the windrows that leaves can block driveways.
Which roads do your trucks take from Boulder to Lafayette?
CO 7, which leaves Boulder as Arapahoe Road, or South Boulder Road, depending on where the car is; Lafayette is about 11 miles from Boulder by road. We quote by distance and give the arrival window on the call.
Will you come out on the Northwest Parkway near Lafayette?
Yes. The Parkway meets US 287 at Dillon Road in Lafayette and runs west to US 36 and east to I-25, and when a tow uses it, the toll goes into our quote.
What if my car was towed from an apartment lot in Lafayette?
Check the lot for the towing company's signs and call the number on them, which is the PUC's first step for a residential tow. Your belongings come back free if you ask within 30 days of the carrier's notice.