Locals have seen this ‘straight shot’ movie before

Steve Ornowski and Terry Paulson Guest Commentary

Ballots for the city of Aspen’s election drop on Feb. 10, and Aspen has two critical questions to decide. Both questions frame the much bigger question: “Who gets to decide Aspen’s entrance and with it, Aspen’s identity and character?”

The people of Aspen? Or the Colorado Department of transportation?

Our Parks Our Open Space is a locals-led issues committee asking Aspen to vote yes on Referendum 1 and no on Referendum 2. The recent op-ed by backers of Referendum 2 (“We can’t take another four years of ‘gridlock season,’” Jan. 24, Aspen Daily News) requires a serious fact check.

But first the basics: Referendum 2 is intended to fast track the “straight shot” (aka the Preferred Alternative), a 1990s highway design that still has just one lane in and one lane out for cars and trucks. It adds two new bus-only lanes.

The city has repeatedly confirmed on its website and in newspaper quotes that the straight shot will not alleviate traffic congestion. The open question is: How much worse would traffic be with the straight shot’s less-understood features?

For instance, did you know the straight shot requires a new traffic light at Seventh and Main streets, next to the Hickory House? Further, the straight shot forces all Cemetery Lane traffic to drive into town whether it’s going upvalley or downvalley. This will make the gridlock near Hickory House even worse.

Construction gridlock?

In their op-ed piece, Referendum 2 boosters cry wolf about the supposed economic devastation that would occur if we rebuild the existing bridge. Do they think we’ve all been living under a rock for the past two years?

The Aspen City Council hired Jacobs Engineering in 2023 to examine options for rebuilding the existing Castle Creek Bridge. In two separate reports, Jacobs concluded that a “3-lane shifted plan could be built in two construction seasons,” with two lanes open during “all phases of construction,” with no detours and “minimal traffic disruption.”

Building the straight shot will take at least 10 years for design, approvals, funding and construction. No one expects the existing bridge to last that long.

We can rebuild Castle Creek Bridge sooner in the existing right-of-way at a fraction of the cost, making a stronger case for scarce state and federal highway dollars. It’s the faster, better and cheaper plan with no detours during construction. And it’s the only plan that gives the West End any relief.

Evacuation

Let’s be real about wildfire safety. Firefighters generally agree that directing everyone to jump in their cars and head west (where the prevailing winds come from) is not a fail-safe plan, and in many instances could be dangerous.

Fire Chief Rick Balentine wrote a column (“Lessons from recent wildfires and a call for community action,” Jan. 16, Aspen Daily News) calling for in-town efforts to improve fire safety. He never mentioned a new four-lane bridge. And Jack Simmons, a former assistant fire chief and 30-year veteran of the Aspen Fire Protection District, recently wrote (“New highway across open space not a safety panacea,” Jan. 17, Aspen Daily News) a new bridge and four lanes across Marolt Open Space will not necessarily make us safer from wildland fire. He calls it a “one-directional solution” with limited benefit.

Both the city and county are developing realistic emergency plans focusing on defensible perimeters around town (using our two vast open spaces at each end of town as defensible fire breaks), hardening our homes by removing fuel and identifying safe buildings for walkable shelter-in-place. That is the best way to make us safer.

Our town our voice

Referendum 2 doesn’t make us safer. It doesn’t fix traffic congestion. And it surrenders our right to review and vote on CDOT’s plans for the Marolt Open Space. Why on earth would we do that?

We can fix the traffic, create emergency plans and create a new entrance to Aspen without paving over Aspen’s front yard.

Aspenites have never relinquished control over our town, or our parks and open spaces that define our small-town character. Please vote yes on Referendum 1, and no on Referendum 2.

Steve Ornowski and Terry Paulson are members of the Our Parks Our Open Space issues committee. Other members include Bill Stirling, Howie Mallory, Blanca and Cavanaugh O’Leary, Helen Palmer, Ruth Harrison, Neil and Elizabeth Siegel, Jeff Grinspoon and Jon Foley, John and Jeannie Seybold, Alex Palmaz, Laurel Catto, Carol Bloomquist, Ginger Kennington, Jane Carey, Catherine Hagen and David Elgart.