We are among those who are looking forward to having the Animas River Trail extended past the Farmington Hill intersection to Three Springs, where the Southern Ute Tribe’s residential and commercial development, anchored by Mercy Regional Medical Center, is steadily growing in size and where even more trail options will be possible.
Currently, the trail ends at River Road behind Home Depot.
And, yes, by heading to Three Springs to the east, the trail will be leaving the banks of the Animas River, which turns southeast. The extension will not be a “river” trail.
The Herald, in a story last week, reported that the Federal Transit Administration is providing $400,000 for the design of the trail extension, and that three routes are under consideration.
Crossing U.S. Highway 550/160 is of course the challenge, and that could be done with either an on-grade crossing at the River Road light or with an overpass at that location. Or, the trail could continue east on the south side of U.S. Highway 550/160 and cross at an overpass closer to Farmington Hill that would better take advantage of the terrain. Another partial option would be to route the trail farther south of the highway before turning north and then using an overpass. A residential area of scattered homes is along that route.
Another option, in our estimation, might be to use the significant bridge, farther east, that has not yet tied Highway 160 together with Highway 550. An agreement with the Webb family is in hand with Highway 550 routed almost to the western edge of the Webb property of the mesa top, but a lack of funding has construction timing uncertain. When that new connection is complete, the Farmington Hill intersection will be eliminated. Eagle Block will be accessed from Highway 550 on top of the mesa.
Without Highway 550 at the base of the bluff, the trail extension could extend much farther east on the south side of Highway 160 without having to contend with automobile traffic. The trail could climb the bluff up to the new bridge to utilize it to cross Highway 160 and reach Three Springs. But whether the bridge has adequate trail-carrying capability, or could be made to have, is uncertain. And the wait for money to complete the bridge linkage and to then eliminate Highway 550 at the base of Farmington Hill – which would make for an unimpeded trail – might add years to the project.
While extending the trail to Three Springs has great appeal, it is worth remembering that linking the river trail at downtown Durango would be more welcome to more bike riders. That would be done with an underpass, or two underpasses, or an overpass somewhere along Camino del Rio, as has been talked about. Better marking the trail as it crosses 15th Street to Second Avenue near Rotary Park was an improvement, as was doing a better job of alerting drivers to the pedestrian crossing at Camino del Rio at 15th Street.
But best of all would be to route foot traffic and bicyclists either under Camino del Rio or above it.
Exploring an unimpeded Camino del Rio crossing is on the list of projects that was included in the continuation of the sales tax that was overwhelmingly approved by voters earlier this year. Putting the crossing high up of the project list will make that happen sooner rather than later.
Durangoans already enjoy the Animas River Trail, and both better connecting it to downtown and extending it to Three Springs will make it even more popular.
