Commissioners to look at needs on Owl Canyon Road

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Owl Canyon Road is again up for discussion. On Dec. 4, Larimer County Commissioners will meet with staff from the road and bridge and engineering departments, along with county manager Frank Lancaster and public works director Marc Engemoen, to look at traffic and maintenance issues along the roadway.

Owl Canyon Road connects U.S. Highway 287 and Interstate 25, along County Roads 70 and 72.

The work session is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the second-floor conference room of the courthouse offices building.

The county's new transportation master plan, approved in October, calls for the paving of Owl Canyon Road. However, Engemoen said, there is no money for the project. "It's on a list of $70 million in unfunded projects in the county," he said. Traffic levels have already surpassed the threshold at which paving is recommended, but when or if that will happen remains a budget question.

Engemoen said that because of the considerable increase in traffic along Owl Canyon Road, the county may need to improve the road for regular vehicle traffic. The road has been proposed in the past as a possible truck route to reduce truck traffic in Fort Collins, but Engemoen said the current discussion has nothing to do with a truck route.

County Commissioner Kathay Rennels said the issue of paving Owl Canyon Road is a complicated one, even if the county had the money for the project. Currently, she said, the county is spending a good deal of money keeping the road graveled. On the other hand, the road would get more traffic if it were paved, creating a safety problem at the intersection of Owl Canyon Road and U.S. 287.

NISP connection

One reason for the December discussion about Owl Canyon Road is the potential relocation of U.S. Highway 287. The Northern Integrated Supply Project, a consortium of water users in northern Colorado, is hoping to build Glade Reservoir north of Ted's Place at the mouth of Poudre Canyon. If Glade is built, U.S. 287 will have to be relocated. The list of possible realignments has been narrowed to two, both running east of the reservoir. One of them, the so-called northern route, would tie into Owl Canyon Road.

The Environmental Impact Statement for the NISP project is expected to be ready for public review by the end of January, and the county commissioners will be asked to comment on the alternatives, including the highway realignment. As a result, Engemoen said, the time seems right to take a closer look at Owl Canyon Road needs and how these would relate to a highway relocation.

Both remaining options for U.S. 287 would use an existing north-south road on the former Holcim Inc. cement plant property. The route that has been consistently favored by NISP is the western alignment. This route would cross a hogback and rejoin the current U.S. 287 north of the reservoir.

Carl Brouwer, project manager for NISP, said one reason NISP prefers the western alignment is that the northern option is unpopular with landowners. Also, he said, studies have shown that there would be no significant wind tunnel effect created by the hogback cut on the western alignment.

The northern option would overlap some with Owl Canyon Road before rejoining the current U.S. 287. According to Brouwer, the two options are essentially equal in terms of cost and their impact on wetlands.

In August 2005, the county commissioners pushed for keeping the northern alignment on the list of options. In a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which is writing the EIS, they wrote, "Larimer County currently has no project on the table or money to connect I-25 and U.S. 287. We believe, however, [the northern route] would be more compatible if the future demands of the county created the necessity. The proposed reservoir is certainly being planned to accommodate not just immediate, but also future water needs for this area. The relocation of this important regional highway should take into consideration the necessity of meeting not only immediate, but also future transportation patterns and demands."

Now, Rennels said, "I think that conversation is over" given NISP's preference for the western alignment. "We need to close the loop on some of these subjects," she added, so the commissioners can proceed with a discussion about improvements needed on Owl Canyon Road.