The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Final processes now under way
Work will likely begin to improve the upper 12.4 miles of Cottonwood Pass on this side of County Road 209 this summer. The project will widen the road to two 11-foot-wide paved lanes with one-foot-wide gravel shoulders, and will remove some of the more technical switchbacks toward the top of the pass. Marlene Crosby, director of Gunnison County public works, told the News, “The improvement in safety is the driving force behind this project. The reduced cost of maintenance is a strong second. We’re in the final process of getting the federal highway to cut the checks.”
Improvements to the pass qualify for funding under the Federal Lands Access Program, which supports work on public highways, roads, bridges, trails and transit systems located on, adjacent to, or providing access to federal lands. According to the Central Federal Lands Highway Division, the price tag on the proposed safety improvements and paving of the high mountain highway is $27,115,000. Counties in Colorado must match 17.2 percent of funds, a figure determined by a federal formula based on factors such as median income, acres of federal land, etc. Some states pay five percent and some states do not have to match at all.
Back in April 2014, the county would have been required to put up more than $5 million by spring 2018. The project was not feasible with such a hefty price tag. Crosby noted that since other states were only paying 5 percent and there was discussion of new legislation that would level the playing field and charge all states 5 percent, a decision was made to send the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) a letter notifying them Gunnison County could not afford the $5 million match, but could still participate at the 5 percent level. That would mean getting the cost down to under $1.5 million.
It was a slow process and dependent on several external factors, but it actually happened. “It was $4.9 million before, and now down to $1.4 million, so it’s huge,” Crosby said of the cost decrease. “And, it’s the completion of a route. We have huge support from FHWA for this project.”
Crosby explained in an email earlier this week that the committee making the decision (comprised of one representative from Gunnison County, one from CDOT [Colorado Department of Transportation], and staff from the FHWA and Forest Service) determined that construction on Guanella Pass, Tarryall Pass and Cottonwood Pass were legacy projects. All three projects have been on the drawing board for many years, all three completed a route, and the FHWA already has made a significant investment in the projects for engineering and environmental studies.
Guanella was fully funded by CDOT funds and provides a connection between the I-70 corridor and State Highway 285. CDOT funds were also used to pay the 12.21 percent match in funds for Tarryall and Cottonwood, so that Park County and Gunnison County would only pay a 5 percent match, which would be less than $1.5 million for Gunnison County.
Last year’s contract for the lower end of the Taylor Road paving project came in under the engineer’s estimate and the FHWA was able to contribute some additional funding, so the county ended up paying less than what was originally budgeted. That was about $492,450 for the year, and the actual payment was just under $140,000, so there is an extra $352,000 to put toward another project—a project such as paving and widening the upper 12.4 miles of Cottonwood Pass to improve safety and reduce annual maintenance costs.
County commissioner Phil Chamberland said he thinks the road was pretty nice this year, complimenting the public works department for a job well done so far. “Sounds like it is doable and I think it’s worth doing,” he said. Commissioner Paula Swenson added that the Board of County Commissioners looks forward to seeing the project on its agenda for the January 6 meeting. Earmarking county funds for the Cottonwood Pass project will start with the 2015 budget.
