Dear Action Line: I’m curious about the restoration of Farmington Hill to a more natural looking state, now that the road surface has been removed. Will it ultimately look like there was never a highway there at all? – Poofitz Gaughn
Dear Poofitz: As those of us who drive past this spot regularly know, there’s been quite a bit of activity here since it was closed to traffic forever and ever a few weeks ago. With loss comes immense sadness, but we must buck up and carry on.
The good news is that not only will we always have our fond nightmares of uncontrolled icy slides down Farmington Hill in the winter, but the physical evidence should remain until the next glacial or geologic age, which we’re assured by the experts won’t come in any of our lifetimes.
The road grade is going to remain recognizable for the foreseeable future, said Lisa Schwantes, regional spokeswoman with the Colorado Department of Transportation, which is in the midst of rehabilitation efforts.
“It’ll look like a ghost road,” Schwantes said, comparing it to old railroad grades seen frequently in the area. “The grade will still exist.”
Not long after the new Grandview Interchange to connect U.S. Highway 550 with 160 went online July 14, the no-longer-needed traffic signal at the bottom of Farmington Hill was taken down. Then crews began to “rubble up” the old asphalt, Schwantes said, and that was covered with new, natural material.
In mid-August, the process of seeding the disturbed area with native covering began, and you should be able to see the green film on the hillside and road bed where that mitigation has occurred.
Schwantes said work on culverts will occur near the old Farmington Hill intersection during the next few weeks. When that’s complete, the orange barrels and concrete barriers will be removed, and the off ramp to the new interchange will be lengthened.
And finally, this fall, around 125 trees will be planted along the old Farmington Hill stretch. The trees will certainly be lovely, but so much for Action Line’s plans for a good toboggan run.
Some have suggested the asphalted route could have remained as it was, to serve as an emergency route. With frequent rockfall and ice buildup, that possibility was deemed impractical and too costly, Schwantes said.
For several decades, this strip of land has been in the hands of the federal government.
“When we’re done with our reclamation, that property will revert back to La Plata County,” she said.
Dear Action Line: With the opening of “The Bridge To Nowhere,” did someone forget or did no one think about a commuter lot? I know it is probably a silly question but wouldn’t ya think it would be nice to have one? If the city set up a bus stop there you may even shed some of the downtown parking mess. – Albee A. Parker
Dear Albee: Action Line likes the idea: You build an easy-to-access, free parking area on the edge of the sprawling city, and operate timely back-and-forth shuttles. If parking really is that awful for downtown employees, this seems like a win-win.
But the general answer is that many people, including city officials, aren’t convinced that a “park and ride” that close to Durango would be used enough to make it worthwhile.
So, there hasn’t been any serious discussion of doing that. Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lisa Schwantes said no one has approached CDOT about that idea, which would have to go through a process before being implemented.
Generally, such transportation plans that involve CDOT and multiple governmental agencies are vetted by a group called a Transportation Planning Region, or TPR. There are several TPRs around the state. We’re in Colorado’s southwest TPR, which covers five counties – La Plata, Archuleta, Montezuma, Dolores and San Juan. The 19-member group has representatives from those counties as well as tribes and towns within them, and from CDOT.
The group meets periodically to bring matters to CDOT’s attention and help set priorities, whether it’s a park and ride, or a large planned development that might affect a state or federal highway.
Schwantes pointed out that CDOT does have two park and rides (mostly used as carpool parking) in La Plata County. One is south of Durango along U.S. Highway 550, just east of the intersection with County Road 302, and the other is between Durango and Bayfield along U.S. Highway 160 at County Road 225A. Both have existed for several years.
Wade Moore, parking operations manager for the city of Durango, also said he has not heard of any discussion of a Grandview-area park and ride.
He said that aside from creating the parking area, a city Transit stop would also be needed.
“The Transit system goes all up in and around Three Springs now for the folks in that area,” Moore said.
So, good idea, but perhaps the time is not quite ripe.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Plus, it’s so much easier to drive downtown and feed meters, perhaps parallel park in perturbing places, and walk long distances through snow banks – just so you can have your precious car with you.
