Please call the mayor at 759-6477 to insist the City Council fund in the 2020 budget the long-planned-for bridge for pedestrian and bike safety to finish the north extension of the Animas River Trail.
Since 2011, the council always planned for public safety with no grade-level crossings at 32nd Street, which is the second busiest street in Durango – until now.
The long-planned bridge across the river is designed to protect the public from cars at 32nd Street grade level.
The Multi-Modal Advisory Board supports the bridge to avoid at-grade crossings.
The pedestrian bridge remains vital to the spirit and intent of the ART and the safety of our citizens.
Small children, parents with strollers and families with dogs will be in danger without the bridge. The public will leave a 10-foot-wide sidewalk at Memorial Park to walk across a five-foot-wide existing sidewalk on the 32nd Street bridge to reach the ART. This is unacceptable because the volume on the trail will increase once the north extension opens.
There will always be Parks and Recreation projects that need money. It is dangerous to place pedestrians in harm’s way by not funding the bridge. How much is a child’s life worth?
Priceless is my answer. Call the mayor by September to protect your loved ones by funding the bridge.
Finish the north extension of the Animas River Trail for pedestrians!
Sweetie Marbury
Durango
