Margo: Time for Aspen to ‘defy ordinary’ and make her grand entrance
Ali Margo, Aspen Daily News Columnist Jan 27, 2025
Dear Aspen City Council, city of Aspen, Aspen One and you, our square-jawed, dedicated, resident climate activist and author Auden Schendler:
I know this entrance to Aspen thing has been throwing y’all for a loop for at least two decades — almost three according to the last Record of Decision made by the Colorado Department of Transportation in 1998. Great news! I have the perfect solution. Actually, it’s my friend Tim’s idea, but I’m going to pass it along because it’s too good not to.
I landed here in 2002, so I know for a fact that at least since I’ve been here, there’s been a big ol’ debate about how to fix the traffic problem, which has only gotten worse. It’s so bad in fact, that most of us who decided to make a life for ourselves here designed it specifically to avoid driving to Aspen altogether, at least during rush hour, which now seems to go on all day long.
Throw a little road construction into the mix and, as we know all too well, you have complete gridlock. We’re talking over an hour to get out of the 3-mile chokehold between downtown Aspen and Buttermilk. And yet still nothing has been done to fix it, and more people come, so it just gets worse. I can’t even imagine these poor rich people who own these $20 million homes in the West End only to have an endless stream of traffic going by all day as if they were still at home in Manhattan or Los Angeles.
Speaking of LA, the wildfires have rung alarm bells among folks locally who began to wonder, “What if that happened here?” In the case of an emergency, how would the town evacuate?
The two options that have been on the ballot for all eternity — the S-curves and the “Straight Shot” — are both horrible options. Even though people think they have to take sides, neither side is the right one. And around and around we go.
Instead of trying to figure out a way to get more cars into Aspen, why don’t we come up with ways to keep cars out? Or at least limit the number of vehicles that go into the downtown core as much as possible, offering permits to, say, residents and work trucks. Building new road infrastructure is cost prohibitive and logistically challenging to say the least. I tend to agree with the folks who are concerned about bulldozing through the Marolt Open Space to pave the way for a big, ugly multi-lane road into our precious little paradise. The entrance to Aspen should be special.
Since it is indeed public domain, we can’t exactly create pearly gates or a guest list or string up velvet ropes and hire security. But we can do something special, unique and appropriate to this incredible place that would create a dramatic and beautiful entrance into town. This solution would be eco-friendly and considerably cheaper than any other alternative.
Wait for it … Tim’s answer is … a gondola!
A gondola from the airport would allow visitors to come into Aspen without needing a car whether they came by air or ground. A large parking structure, preferably with a solar powered roof for electric vehicle charging stations (with universal chargers, not Tesla), would allow visitors to leave their vehicles outside of town.
The construction of a gondola would not require that the land beneath it be disrupted — there would be no bridges to consider or private land that required easements. It would be silent and charming, reminiscent of the legendary European interconnect ski resort networks like Interlaken, Switzerland or the Dolomiti Superski in Italy where multiple ski areas are connected by trams, lifts and various other modes of uphill transportation. If Telluride can install a gondola to connect the town to the resort with a lovely restaurant and mid-station (to the tune of a measly $16 million — chump change by comparison to the billions needed for bigger roads), Aspen can do it, too. It would thread the needle with a fine fabric like silk or cashmere instead of clogging the drain with garbage like we’re doing now.
On a personal note, Ryan and I were married on top of Aspen Mountain and were fortunate enough to have incredible photos of us riding the gondola after the ceremony, a “just married” getaway on steroids. That red gondola became iconic as a symbol of our love and the life we’ve built together in this best-ever-place. My friend Sarah always gifts us things with red gondolas on them, from socks and pajamas to an incredible painting she had commissioned by an artist from Buena Vista.
If Aspen wants to establish itself as a leader in renewable energy, here’s your chance to do more than decorate a fleet of Tesla police cars. Let’s think out of the box and flip the script: Keep cars out, don’t build more roads to let more cars in. If we really want to “defy ordinary,” not to mention the current administration’s dismissal of climate change, let’s turn that iconic red gondola into something legendary.
Ali Margo can be reached at alisonmargo@gmail.com.