Repaved portion of Animas River Trail reopens to public

Cyclists and pedestrians make their way along a section of the Animas River Trail behind Durango High School that reopened in late September after replacement of the old 8-foot wide path with a 10-foot wide concrete multiuse trail. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

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Cyclists and pedestrians make their way along a section of the Animas River Trail behind Durango High School that reopened in late September after replacement of the old 8-foot wide path with a 10-foot wide concrete multiuse trail. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

A long-planned repavement project for a stretch of the Animas River Trail between Rank Park and the Demon Pedestrian Bridge behind Durango High School was completed during the last week of September and has reopened to pedestrian and bicycle use.

The trail was originally scheduled to undergo maintenance and upgrades in fall 2021, but it was stalled until April because of a somewhat lengthy permitting process meant to ensure the habitat of an endangered species of rodent, known as the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse, would not be disturbed by the work, Scott McClain, Durango assistant parks and recreation director, said in March.

A news release issued last week by the city said the trail was widened from 8 feet to 10 feet, and work included replacement of old and worn asphalt with new, smooth concrete and a drainage installation to divert uphill water and debris under the trail.

The trail is open to the public, but some landscaping and construction is ongoing, McClain said.

“They’re still doing some construction along there, trying to get the edges graded back and seeded, and then hydro mulch on top of it,” he said.

Recent rains have slowed the landscaping work, but McClain said progress is being made.

An impact study into the habitat of New Mexico meadow jumping mice along a section of wetland on the Animas River Trail led to a permitting process overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers, which stalled completion of a repavement project on the river trail between Rank Park and the Demon Pedestrian Bridge. The permitting process lasted about two months, said Scott McClain, Durango assistant parks and recreation director. (Stacey Stanford/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP)

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An impact study into the habitat of New Mexico meadow jumping mice along a section of wetland on the Animas River Trail led to a permitting process overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers, which stalled completion of a repavement project on the river trail between Rank Park and the Demon Pedestrian Bridge. The permitting process lasted about two months, said Scott McClain, Durango assistant parks and recreation director. (Stacey Stanford/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP)

North of Durango High School’s athletic field, Durango Parks and Recreation is working with the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to figure out if additional improvements can be made to the grade that connects to the west side of the railroad tracks, he said.

“We should have some more information on that here in the next week or two. And the hope would be that work is done by the end of November,” he said.

The examination of New Mexico meadow jumping mice habitat “identified minimized areas of impact,” McClain said. The city went through a permitting process with the Army Corps of Engineers, which simply required the city to restrict construction to its designated project areas.

Because of drainage that occurs between the Demon Pedestrian Bridge and Rank Park, that portion of the Animas River Trail was deemed a wetland by the Army Corps of Engineers, he said in an interview in March.

In fall 2021, the city hired Jennifer Zahratka, a Durango wildlife biologist, to serve as an environmental consultant and evaluate the project area and jumping mice habitat.

cburney@durangoherald.com