The city of Durango is encouraging residents to mix up their morning commute by ditching the car and taking a kayak, canoe, raft or tube.
“Float to Work Day” returns Friday as a way to build community in a fun and environmentally conscious way, said Liam Goettelman, the city’s multimodal transportation specialist.
“It’s a great way to add to our winter bike to work day and clean commute day offerings with a little bit of extra morning fun for people,” Goettelman said.
The plan, Goettelman said, is to meet at the 29th Street river put-in at 7 a.m., where he and other city staffers will be waiting with hot coffee and pastries. At 8 a.m., river-goers will put onto the Animas and float down to the Schneider Park takeout.
At the takeout, buses will be waiting from 8 to 9:15 a.m. to deliver people back to the 29th Street put-in or to their jobs on fixed routes throughout town, free of charge. If commuters head straight to work and need a ride home, they can use the DuranGO! service to find transportation.
“We usually see between eight to 20 people every year,” Goettelman said. “It’d be super cool if we could have a couple dozen out there. I think that would be a great turnout, especially since the river is pretty low this year.”
Goettelman said the city partnered with Four Corners River Sports, which will be offering free boat rentals to people who would like to participate but do not own their own craft.
To reserve a boat, participants can call ahead to Four Corners River Sports at 259-3893. Four Corners River Sports asks that anyone who rents a boat come in prior to the event to pick it up, and to return it after Friday.
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
