The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
by Mark Reaman
Airport open houses next week; runway project in 2017
Two open houses for the Gunnison-Crested Butte regional airport will be held next week. An on-site event will take place at the airport on Wednesday, July 22 from 5 to 7 p.m. On Thursday, July 23, one will be held at the Crested Butte Town Council chambers. Airport manager Rick Lamport said the idea was to explain upcoming changes, including infrastructure improvements, to the public. The biggest project will be a runway improvement project in the spring of 2017. That project is expected to take about eight weeks to complete.
New RTA buses might be on the horizon
RTA executive director Scott Truex said he would be asking the board in September to approve funds to purchase two new buses. The buses aren’t cheap and would cost a total of $1.3 million. He is expecting a $530,000 state grant to help defray that cost.
“These are expensive buses but the current ones are not able to keep up with the demand,” he said.
Stewart Johnson of Alpine Express, the contractor for the RTA bus service, said the new buses would carry more passengers and be more reliable.
“It’s an asset we really need,” said Truex.
No decision has been made about whether the new buses will be run on diesel fuel or compressed natural gas.
