Why Deserts Matter Too
LoVa in the News- February 9, 2021
Coal Ridge bike path project gaining momentum
Garfield County commissioners award first-quarter grants for trails, arts, local radio and more
Planning for a new bicycle and pedestrian path to serve Coal Ridge High School between New Castle and Silt got a $5,000 boost from Garfield County this week.
County commissioners on Monday awarded a grant from the county’s Conservation Trust Fund to support the trail project along U.S. Highway 6.
The trail project is part of the larger effort by the Lower Valley Trail Association (LoVa) to build a network of non-motorized trails and paved pathways connecting Glenwood Springs to the western Garfield County communities.LoVa has been meeting with the mayors of both New Castle and Silt to move ahead with initial design and alignment planning for the trail, which would be placed within the Colorado Department of Transportation’s highway right of way, LoVa Executive Director Jeanne Golay said in a report to the county commissioners.
The trail would run along the north side of Highway 6, directly in front of Coal Ridge High, which is located midway between the two communities.Funding for actual construction of the path has not yet been identified, but would likely have to come from state and local grants.
“The Garfield Re-2 School District has a strong desire to see the project come to fruition,” Golay wrote in her annual update on LoVa activities. “In 2021, we will continue … (to) seek funding for further design, utility permitting and construction.”
Commissioners asked that the county’s $5,000 contribution go specifically to the Coal Ridge trail project, but LoVa continues to make progress on several other trail-building efforts.
Through a $500,000 Colorado Parks and Wildlife “Colorado the Beautiful” trails grant, LoVa is proceeding with three “micro projects” that will be part of the eventual completion of the South Canyon trail, Golay said.
Among them are a bridge over the Colorado River and an overpass of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks near Canyon Creek, and rock-scaling work at Tibbetts Point. Delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted progress on some of that work, Golay said.