Truck route debate has no easy answers
By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News
The newly formed Northern Colorado Rural Development Association still
is thinking big despite a tiny turnout at its first meeting to examine
the effects of a truck bypass.
It was the kickoff for a series of sessions aimed at providing residents
with accurate and objective information on matters of every sort affecting
an expansive swath of northern Larimer and Weld counties.
"I don't want us to think small," said association president Bob Dobson.
He said the NCRDA will act as an objective organization dedicated to encouraging
public discourse about issues affecting the region with the goal of preserving
its rural lifestyle.
"We want to protect that as best we can," he said.
About a dozen souls dedicated a sunny Saturday morning to participate in
a panel discussion about the future of the heavily traveled Owl Canyon
Road. By default rather than design, it is increasingly becoming a route
for drivers of big rigs seeking a more convenient connection between Interstate
25 and U.S. Highway 287.
The most tangible development was offered by Larimer County traffic engineer
Martina Wilkinson. She discussed the preliminary engineering study underway
that eventually will lead to the paving and improvement of the Owl Canyon
corridor. (See related story.)
Regardless of concerns about the road becoming a truck route, "We have
a problem; it's a traffic problem," Wilkinson said. "Even if we took all
the trucks off that roadway we would still have the same problem."
Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District public affairs coordinator
Nicole Seltzer dimmed hopes that the district could contribute to Owl Canyon
reconstruction when it relocates seven miles of U.S. 287 if authorized
to construct the Glade Reservoir project.
Of two options, she said, the district prefers the more southerly one reconnecting
the relocated highway to the existing one, rather than the northern one
that would make the connection via Owl Canyon. The estimated $39 million
cost would be about the same, Seltzer said, but the southern route would
affect fewer property owners and material excavated in cutting through
the hogback could be used for building the reservoir.
"We want to build a reservoir. We're only building highways because we
have to," Seltzer said.
In recounting the tumultuous 30-year effort to build a bypass, Fort Collins
acting Transportation Director Mark Jackson said the city now stands at
a crossroads awaiting direction from the city council. It arrived there
after voters repealed a 1999 initiative, restoring the city's ability to
consider all bypass alternatives and freeing up $1.6 million for transportation
needs in northeast Fort Collins.
At a meeting earlier this year between Fort Collins and Larimer County
officials, Mayor Doug Hutchinson held open the possibility that the money
could be applied toward improving Owl Canyon. "I think the city can spend
it however," he said in a later interview.
With bypass barriers removed, "now we can talk," Hutchinson said.
The council and commissioners have asked their staffs to do so in an effort
to determine how the city and county can cooperate.
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