I believe the majority of La Plata County residents feel that our county roads need repair. Many, however, differentiate between needed repairs and costly wants.
For instance, in my area, we needed County Road 210 around Lake Nighthorse, but we did not need an overbuilt superhighway that connects to a corkscrew road and manages to fall apart every winter. Now we are paying for a left turn lane into Lake Nighthorse that we are not permitted to use.
Finally, $1.2 million is budgeted for bicycle lanes on Wildcat Canyon, a road only used by bicycle enthusiasts who ride downhill. No one is ever going to commute by bicycle on this road because of the 800-foot elevation change. I am not anti-bicycle, just anti-waste.
Our commissioners have stated that the voters turned down last year’s road funding proposal because we did not understand it. I think we understood it better than they did.
Next year, come back with a reasonable request, something more in line with a county that is losing gas revenue.
Wayne Pratt
Hesperus
