Ribbon cutting ceremony held for LoVa Trail
Phase three completion of the Lower Valley Trail (LoVa) was ushered in with a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, according to a Glenwood Springs news release.
The event was hosted by the city of Glenwood Springs and the Lower Valley Trail Association.
“Thank you to Jeanne Golay and the LoVa board for your resilience and persistence on keeping progress moving on this trail,” Glenwood Springs City Councilor Erin Zalinski said in the release. Jeanne Golay is the Lower Valley Trail Association executive director. “For over 20 years our region has chipped away at projects to bring the vision for a non-motorized connection to life. We’re happy to see the added recreational amenity for Glenwood today and to be one step closer to greater regional connectivity.”
The “Meet Me in the Middle” trail is also a partner project with the city of New Castle, Garfield County and the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) that extends the trail from the West Glenwood Treatment Facility on the southwest side of town 700 linear feet to the west ending at a new shade structure and outlook, the release states.
The project is largely funded by the first-ever Partnership Grant awarded in 2019 by the Garfield County Federal Mineral Lease District (FMLD), the release states.
“FMLD continues to support the community and is happy to see this wonderful project move forward the LoVa Trail westward,” FMLD Board Member Gregg Rippy said in the release.
Future plans for LoVa Trail
LoVa will continue to seek grants to extend the trail, one segment at a time. Golay is hopeful the project will benefit from new federal funding devoted to safety, climate change mitigation and access to public lands, the release states.
“For a cyclist or pedestrian traveling east to west, Glenwood Springs has the dubious distinction of being the first place where you are forced to get on the interstate highway with vehicles going 65 miles per hour,” she said in the release. “LoVa’s mission is to change that by creating a safe, separated path for everyone.”
Current estimates to complete the approximate 9 miles from Glenwood to New Castle come in at $2 million per mile, the release states. The steep, narrow river gorge through South Canyon offers few locations to place a 10-foot-wide path. Most construction in South Canyon must be staged and conducted from the shoulder of the interstate, requiring traffic control and lane closures.