LaPorte railroad line listed on historic register

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

A historic railroad line near LaPorte is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a factor in the ongoing debate over location of a water pipeline.

Mary Humstone of Bellvue, who helped to put the railroad line on the register, hopes the historic designation will persuade Greeley to keep its planned water pipeline out of the river corridor. Humstone is a historic preservationist and a professor at the University of Wyoming.

Greeley is in the process of building a 60-inch pipeline, 30 miles long, from its Bellvue water treatment plant to the city. Part of the pipeline is already built. The last section, which will run from the plant through LaPorte to Shields Street, is in the planning stages. Last October, the Larimer County Planning Commission approved the river corridor route for that section.

The route goes along an old railroad right of way, located on the south bank of the Cache la Poudre River between LaPorte and Bellvue. The railroad bed includes a section of track from the 1881 Greeley, Salt Lake & Pacific Railroad - Stout Branch.

Railroad served Stout

Humstone submitted a nomination for the 0.8-mile section of railroad to the Colorado Historical Society several months ago, and it was officially listed on the National Register in mid-April. The section includes the original rail bed, an intact section of tracks and three historic bridges.

The tracks are the last remnant of the GSL&P - Stout Branch, which transported sandstone and limestone from quarries west of Fort Collins to building sites and sugar factories in Larimer County and beyond. The GSL&P, Humstone noted, was originally intended to connect northern Colorado with the transcontinental railroad via the Poudre Canyon and Salt Lake City.

Because of the new historic designation for the railroad section, Greeley would have to provide some mitigation if the tracks are damaged or destroyed in the pipeline construction process. Mitigation comes in a wide variety of forms, however. It can consist of reinstalling historic features, or merely taking photos that would serve as an historic record.

Humstone hopes that the historic listing will prompt Greeley to take more drastic measures, namely moving the pipeline away from the river. "We're hopeful they will take this into consideration," she said, noting that Greeley didn't even know about the railroad segment when the city initially announced its preferred route.

"Their decision was based on flawed information," she said.

The old railroad section lies on property owned by Humstone and her husband George Burnette, Jim and Rose Brinks and Marilyn Tysdal.

Grant funds sought

The historic listing isn't the only effort being pursued to influence Greeley's pipeline plans. On May 20, the Larimer County Commissioners agreed to work with Greeley on securing grant funding for the pipeline project. Commissioner Randy Eubanks wants to make the river corridor route less damaging to resources, including riparian areas and gravel-mining deposits. To accomplish that he wants to raise enough money to offset the cost of making some changes.

Eubanks said his goal is to route the pipeline around the historic railroad tracks and further away from the banks of the river. "I don't think it is conceivable that we could procure enough money to consider a whole new route," he said.

Both the mayor and city manager of Greeley said they appreciated Eubanks bringing some of the river corridor issues to their attention.

"I would like to see this (pipeline project) accomplished with the least discomfort to everyone involved," said Mayor Ed Clark. He said he has heard a variety of concerns about the river route, including disruption of habitat and water patterns as well as historic resources.

City Manager Roy Otto said he will allocate staff time to seeking grant funding for the project, either as a way to mitigate concerns along the preferred route or to choose another route.

"I look forward to partnering in that endeavor," he said. He added that all routes considered for the pipeline have challenges associated with them.

Greeley's preliminary cost estimates identify the river corridor as the cheapest route, at about $16 million. Another route that made the final cut was along County Road 54G through LaPorte, now estimated to cost about $26.9 million because water pumping would be required. The estimate includes pumping costs for 40 years, according to project manager Dan Moore.

A third route is an expansion of Greeley's existing easement on the north side of the river. This route, which goes through school property and residential areas in LaPorte, is estimated to cost about $19 million, including the purchase of three or four homes. No pumping would be required.

Moore said Greeley recently looked at another route, one that would go along CR 54G and CR 52E. CR 52E goes from Vern's Place to Bellvue. This option, costing about $20 million, would not require pumping but would cause major public disruption, Moore said.

A "best practices" study for construction in the river corridor could be finalized sometime this month, Moore said. The study, conducted by Leonard Rice Engineers of Denver, looks at issues such as groundwater flow, restoration and how to mitigate disturbances during construction.