A reader recently wrote to express disappointment in Colorado’s newest byway, the Tracks Across Borders Byway, or TABB (Letters, Herald, April 28.) These comments perfectly demonstrate just why TABB warrants a byway designation and the educational literature, interpretive signs and maps that this designation allows for.
Without this, drivers might be unaware that the road follows a corridor that spans over 1,000 years of Colorado and New Mexico history, compressed into a 125-mile length. With the recent byway designation, TABB joins an illustrious and varied collection of byways, each with unique charm and history, including byways that showcase dinosaurs, mining, frontier pathways and more.
The TABB byway offers many unique Colorado and New Mexico stories related to the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, Native American and Hispanic culture and pre-history that are not offered by other byways in either state. TABB traverses two states, and it crosses two Native American sovereign nations (Utes and Jicarillas), accesses Colorado’s Navajo Lake State Park, tours through Chaco ruins, the Chimney Rock National Monument and travels between Durango and Chama, New Mexico, following the route of the 1880s Denver & Rio Grande narrow-gauge San Juan Extension, often on top of the original road grade and near many railroad remnants and through ghost towns. The roads are rustic at times, but they, themselves, are a pathway to the past and will soon be better marked to prepare visitors.
Thank you to the Durango community, which has been very supportive of our efforts and for recognizing the value of the byway. In fact, support by many along the corridor, including the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Jicarilla Apache Nation, are the foundation of the byway. Education, storytelling, historic preservation, recreation and tourism development are all part of the TABB experience and offer substantial reasons for the byway designation.
Dan Love, retired, TABB Founder
Granby
Sidny Zink, Commissioner District 8, Colorado Transportation Commission
Durango
