Aspen City Council to CDOT: No 'straight shot' wanted

Corrosion discolors a steel girder on the Castle Creek Bridge.

Jason Charme/Aspen Daily News

Austin Corona, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer Aug 14, 2024

Aspen City Council plans to ask the Colorado Department of Transportation how it can replace the aging Castle Creek Bridge without building a new highway alignment across the Marolt Open Space.

Council members voted unanimously on Tuesday to draft a letter telling the state that running Highway 82 across the open space is not an “acceptable” component of replacing the bridge for the Aspen community.

The state agency has said that when the bridge needs replacement, it will build the new highway alignment — part of the so-called “preferred alternative” plan finalized in a 1998 federal approval. The highway alignment in the “preferred alternative” also is sometimes referred to as the “straight shot.”

Council members asked city staff to draft the letter, which they hope will express a “collaborative” and “cooperative” tone.

“The whole idea behind writing a letter is — I won’t call it ‘virtue signaling, I’ll call it ‘value signaling,’” said Councilman Sam Rose. “Saying, ‘please help us actually get the values we’re looking for here in Aspen.’”

While he agreed with sending the letter, Councilman Ward Hauenstein disagreed with the idea that the “preferred alternative” was deemed unacceptable to the Aspen community, noting that the town has not taken a recent vote on the subject.

The last vote on the issue occurred in 2002 when Aspenites voted against a highway realignment in favor of keeping the existing S-curves. A citywide vote is necessary to implement the “preferred alternative,” according to City Attorney Jim True.

Mayor Torre, meanwhile, said his opposition to the “preferred alternative” came from his discussions with community members, arguing that Aspenites are against the realignment.

Torre, Rose and Councilman Bill Guth stated during a Monday work session that they preferred replacing the bridge in its current location over the “preferred alternative.” Hauenstein and Councilman John Doyle supported the “preferred alternative,” touting its benefits for public transit and emergency evacuation from Aspen.

The city cannot unilaterally decide how to replace the bridge — which is owned by the state and subject to federal regulations — but it can seek to open different regulatory processes that may allow for different replacement options under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Any modifications to the highway and bridge are restricted by the 1998 approval. Since the 1998 plan would still include the existing Castle Creek Bridge — which would serve as a connection between Cemetery Lane and downtown Aspen — replacing the two-lane bridge would not require a change to the 1998 approval, a process that could take up to two years.

To replace the bridge with a three-lane structure would be a more uncertain process. An attorney hired by the Aspen-based advocacy group Friends of Marolt Park and Open Space has argued it would not require reopening 1998 approval. CDOT has not confirmed that assertion, saying the option would need to be “properly evaluated.”

City Manager Sara Ott and consultants from Jacobs Engineering Group have said a new three-lane bridge would require reopening the approval.

Rose said CDOT’s communications on the subject thus far have been vague.

“They’re just like this boogieman of an entity I feel like I get very little clarity from,” he said.

Jacobs has presented council with four options for how to replace the bridge in its current location. For most options, Jacobs said the detours on Power Plant Road and/or a temporary bridge to the Marolt Open Space would be necessary.

The only option that would not require a detour is a “three-lane shifted” bridge, which would move the bridge slightly southward and add a new lane. This option is a favorite for Rose and Guth but would require the largest acquisitions of private property, according to Jacobs. That acquisition could include the home of the Gregory family, who live beneath the bridge on Harbour Lane.

Torre said he generally needs more information on construction details and regulatory processes around two-lane versus three-lane options before he can support one over the other.

The Castle Creek Bridge is Aspen’s primary access point during much of the year, serving as a critical route for workers who commute into the city every day from downvalley. Around 22,000 individual vehicles cross the bridge and six bus routes use the bridge each day in summer.

The bridge, consultants have said, is showing multiple signs of serious deterioration, having now lasted more than a decade beyond its 50-year design life. The consultants said that if the bridge’s condition worsens much more, it could cause CDOT to intervene and strip the city of some decision-making power on the issue.