Public invited to attend open house events this month for Cottonwood Pass safety improvements

Design concepts developed for county roads between Gypsum and Colorado Highway 82

PRESS RELEASE
March 14, 2023

Public meetings will take place on March 22 & 23 for the public with concept designs aimed at improving safety on county roads that traverse Cottonwood Pass between Gypsum in Eagle County and Colorado Highway 82 in Garfield County. The Colorado Department of Transportation is supporting Eagle and Garfield counties with initial concepts for safety improvements to the county roads at 14 specific locations. Eagle County identified six locations to evaluate potential improvements and Garfield County identified eight locations, based on known safety issues.

Cottonwood Pass is a vital connection for local residents who rely on the county road to safely travel between Gypsum and CO 82 in the Roaring Fork Valley. It is often used as an undesignated alternate route when Glenwood Canyon is closed, which has escalated the urgency of addressing safety issues in a timely fashion. Gathering public input and estimating the magnitude of construction costs for the early concept designs will help Eagle and Garfield counties determine if and when improvements at each site would move forward.
This project developed options for safety improvements at each of the project sites based on a review of existing conditions and public input gathered throughout the project, including during the first set of public meetings held last summer. Design concepts include spot improvements to soften curves, improve sight distance, and increase road width in specific areas to accommodate two vehicles passing.

Two public open house meetings are planned to gather feedback regarding the concept options and share the draft evaluation of each option. The same information will be displayed at each meeting and project staff will be on hand to answer questions. Community members are invited to choose the open house option most convenient for them: Wednesday, March 22 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in Glenwood Springs at the Glenwood Springs Community Center, or Thursday, March 23 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Gypsum Town Hall Council Chamber, 50 Lundgren Boulevard.

For those unable to attend the meeting in person, the information about the safety improvements will be available on the project web page following the meetings. Comments can be submitted by March 31 via an online comment form. To view the graphics, submit comments, or to join the project mailing list, visit www.codot.gov/projects/cottonwood-pass-concept-design.

Following the meetings and public review period, the evaluation of design options will be finalized and documented in a concept design report that will be shared with Eagle and Garfield counties and posted on the project web page. With the information provided by this project, Eagle and Garfield counties will determine next steps for implementing improvements. If improvements move forward, they would be designed and constructed by the counties as funding becomes available. Funding for next steps has not been secured at this time, although CDOT and the counties continue to explore grant and other funding opportunities.

PROJECT INFORMATION: For more information on the Cottonwood Pass Concept Design project, visit www.codot.gov/projects/cottonwood-pass-concept-design.