{"id":2447560,"date":"2019-08-14T21:50:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-15T03:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=311257"},"modified":"2019-08-14T21:50:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T03:50:00","slug":"basalts-bridge-to-nowhere-will-get-connected-via-455000-sidewalk-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/basalts-bridge-to-nowhere-will-get-connected-via-455000-sidewalk-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Basalt\u2019s \u2018Bridge to Nowhere\u2019 will get connected via $455,000 sidewalk project"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
A sidewalk will be constructed on the south side of Two River Road, left in this photo, to make a connection to the Spring Creek Bridge.<\/strong>
Hannah Condon\/courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The town of Basalt will spend nearly $455,000 to complete a connection to what is currently dubbed the \u201cBridge to Nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Town Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to approve funding for the Two Rivers Road sidewalk from Old Pond Park, where the sidewalk now ends, to Spring Creek Bridge. The sidewalk will be built on the south side of Two Rivers Road, west of the Roaring Fork Conservancy\u2019s River Center. It will allow pedestrians to loop around the Basalt River Park and Old Pond Park using unpaved trail and a concrete sidewalk.<\/p>\n

The sidewalk is roughly 500 feet long and 71\/2 feet wide, but construction is tricky because it requires retaining walls and steel handrail on part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of money for a short distance,\u201d Councilwoman Jennifer Riffle said.<\/p>\n

Councilman Gary Tennenbaum, who also is executive director of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, said construction costs are high and there is little prospect of them falling soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going to do it, now\u2019s the time to do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But Riffle urged the board to wait for better prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cI strategically think 12 months out and I think there are a lot of signs of recession,\u201d Riffle said. \u201cHow I handle my personal finances, if I think it\u2019s going to be on sale, I wait a little bit. That\u2019s all that I want to bring to this council, and I want to be heard that I want to wait a little bit for this to go on sale. I don\u2019t want it at this really expensive price.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we wait for 30 years for things to go on sale,\u201d Mayor Jacque Whitsitt replied.<\/p>\n

Whitsitt said she supported the staff position that the project should be a priority because there is a lack of connectivity right now. The Spring Creek Bridge has been a \u201cBridge to Nowhere,\u201d Whitsitt said. When it is used, pedestrians have to use Two Rivers Road, which is seeing increasing levels of traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have a responsibility to do this,\u201d Whitsitt said. \u201cI wish it wasn\u2019t this much, I agree, but I have to support staff\u2019s position on this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally think this is a safety issue and it\u2019s been a safety issue for a very long time, or not having the bridge used at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Katie Schwoerer agreed with Riffle that the cost is \u201castronomical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a little stunning to see this number,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Schwoerer asked if making a gravel path rather than a concrete sidewalk would reduce the cost. Tennenbaum and Town Manager Ryan Mahoney said concrete wasn\u2019t much of a factor in driving the price higher.<\/p>\n

The $455,000 project includes everything from design and survey work to construction management to a 12.5% contingency.<\/p>\n

Whitsitt, Tennenbaum, Schwoerer and Councilman Ryan Slack approved the project. Riffle opposed it.<\/p>\n

In other council action on Tuesday:<\/p>\n

\u2022 The council approved town staff creating and enforcing a leash law for dogs. It will be implemented at a date to be determined, after staff identifies locations at existing parks that will be dog-friendly.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The council approved amendments to the town code to allow for new regulations on design, location and permitting requirements for small wireless facilities that will be affiliated with coming 5G technology. State and federal law limits the amount of local regulation of 5G infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The council approved an agreement for design and engineering services with a company called Connect One Design for work on improvements to Arbaney Swimming Pool. The base contract is for $200,000. The company will provide conceptual options and cost estimates for an enhanced kiddie pool, new fencing, improved entrance and full mechanical, electrical and plumbing for the outdated pool pumps.<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sidewalk will be constructed on the south side of Two River Road, left in this photo, to make a connection to the Spring Creek Bridge.Hannah Condon\/courtesy photo The town of Basalt will spend nearly $455,000 to complete a connection to what is currently dubbed the \u201cBridge to Nowhere.\u201d The Town Council voted 4-1 Tuesday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2447560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 01:24:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447560\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}