The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Task force recommends transit loop for deliveries, more short-term parking
By Katherine Nettles
A temporary solution to an ongoing problem with skier drop-off and base area deliveries has been identified, and after six months the Emmons Road Parking Task Force has made several recommendations to the town of Mt. Crested Butte for how it will function this ski season and possibly beyond.
The task force—made up of Planning Commission staff, Mt. Crested Butte mayor (and base area business owner) Todd Barnes, the Adaptive Sports Center, the Fire Protection District, Mountain Express, and Regional Transit Authority (RTA)—held several meetings regarding parking and delivery issues in the base area and along Emmons Road, as community development director Carlos Velado reported to the Mt. Crested Butte Town Council on November 20.
The area at which Emmons Road terminates at the Base Area has been used as a skier drop-off point since the Lodge at Mountaineer Square construction began, according to the Planning Commission document provided to the Town Council. “With the construction and construction activity for the new Adaptive Sports Center building at the south end of Emmons Road, action must be taken to solve the problems” of drop-offs, pick-ups and deliveries congesting the area, as the beginning of the 2018/19 ski season has arrived.
The document states that the south end of Emmons Road is to be kept open and clear at all times as an emergency access and emergency parking area.
As an experiment, during the summer of 2018 deliveries were allowed in one designated space at particular times in the Transit Loop. “This is not an ideal situation for Mountain Express or the RTA bus activity. However, to this point the Task Force has not been able to come up with a ‘better idea’ on how to handle deliveries in the base area,” according to the documentation.
A final decision from the task force is to continue with the Transit Loop delivery zone, “restricting traffic access with a manned control point on Emmons Road, and the addition of 10 skier drop-off spaces on the east side of the Grand Lodge where the 1.5 hour parking exists,” according to the document.
Velado said this plan includes specific guidelines for delivery services, and will carry through the ski season and perhaps be a permanent solution. Barnes asked if the managers for various vendor representatives had been contacted to make sure they are aware of the changes from previous methods and from the more lax oversight of off-season. Velado agreed to follow up with them.
