Two mountain road names preserved

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Impassioned pleas to preserve historic road names found sympathetic souls at a Dec. 7 hearing.

Stove Prairie Road and Buckhorn Road will continue their role in history. Larimer County Commissioners voted 3-0 to stick with the century-old monikers instead of converting to the standardized county naming system using North County Road 27 and County Road 44H.

The decision, however, means 34 residences near Loveland have to change addresses back to Buckhorn Road after being directed by the county to change to NCR 27. That change occurred when the rural addressing project was working on roads within the Loveland zip code of 80538. None of those home-owners attended the December hearing.

Stove Prairie and Rist Canyon residents in zip code 80512, however, gave myriad reasons-- from traveler safety to common sense--to keep the names that also identify their communities and school.

Key spokesman Bob Gann, chief of the Rist Canyon Volunteer Fire Department, contended that a standardized grid system doesn't work in a mountainous region. In places, NCR 27 is 12 miles from NCR 25, he noted, when they should be one mile apart.

"Problems go away if you use the historic names," he said.

In advocating for the name and numbering recommendations of the fire department, Gann also noted that the volunteer group is the only agency that responds to all non-law enforcement emergencies.

"We would do nothing that would hurt the community or even extend the response time by one second," added volunteer Wes Rutt.

Davis Ranch Road resident Bob Cunningham chimed in with voice and banjo, serenading the audience and commissioners: "Ring, ring, ring. Don't let the county do this thing. They're living in a bubble, just causing trouble. Ring, ring, ring."

"We've heard a lot of wisdom, common sense, entertainment," Commissioner Steve Johnson commented before voting. "History and tradition are very important to us."