Park-and -ride at Brush Creek deferred

Priorities are roundabout, underpass, safety first

By Katherine Nettles 

While there are several construction projects happening concurrently along Highway 135 in the next year, an intercept or park-and-ride lot along Brush Creek Road is not among them. After initial talk of moving forward with that element of the Highway 135 corridor changes, the Gunnison Valley Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) and Gunnison County officials are instead planning to consider such a parking lot in a year or two after a roundabout and a pedestrian underpass are finished. 

During an RTA meeting on September 26, RTA board member and county commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels highlighted a budget item in the RTA’s five-year capital plans to contribute $500,000 to the county’s Highway 135 projects for intercept parking at Brush Creek Road across from the Whetstone development.

Puckett Daniels asked if it was feasible to move the budget item up to coordinate with the county constructing a roundabout at Brush Creek Road and Highway 135 next spring. “Is there a way we could accelerate that to be shovel ready?” she asked. 

The board had informally agreed, and RTA executive director Scott Truex had indicated they might be able to at least grade the site and finish it later. 

However, county staff indicated last week that the timeline for a parking area will need to be longer, as the site will be used to stage construction materials for the complex set of projects underway. 

The Brush Creek roundabout project includes two RTA bus stops, an underpass and trail connections to serve the Whetstone development of which four multi-family buildings are being framed this fall. 

“There have been some discussions about a future park-and-ride, but such a facility is not part of the roundabout project,” said Gunnison County communications director Patty Schmitz. “It’s important to note that the park-and-ride component would not be able to move forward until the Brush Creek roundabout is constructed — the roundabout is the critical first step in improving public safety and facilitating transit, pedestrian and bike connectivity year-round.”

The bus stops included in the current roundabout design will cost approximately $700,000 and the total roundabout project is estimated to cost about $10 million, confirmed Schmitz. The county expects to contribute approximately $2.5 million toward the project’s costs. 

“The bus stop plans have been submitted to CDOT for review, and once feedback is received and incorporated, the county will have a clearer understanding of the final costs,” continued Schmitz. “The county has informally contacted the RTA about assisting in funding the roundabout, but not about funding a future parking area, since our primary focus at this time is on the public safety improvements via the roundabout. A formal request to the RTA for bus stop funding will be forthcoming.

“Once the roundabout is complete, a future trailhead or park-and-ride facility could be developed on county-owned land northeast of the highway, within the section of Brush Creek Road that will no longer be in use after construction,” Schmitz concluded. 

Puckett Daniels and county manager Matthew Birnie shared the same conclusion during a commissioner’s meeting on October 7. 

Puckett Daniels said upon speaking more with Birnie and other project managers, she had realized her idea to use the current construction process for efficiencies wouldn’t work because the county needs to use that space. “There needs to be a formal conversation at some point about that land,” she said.  

Birnie agreed. “It would be great to see the RTA contribute toward those bus stops,” he said.