Pitkin County to see several engineering projects in 2025
Projects at Lower River Road, Sopris Creek Road, Redstone South Bridge, Lazy Glen, Smith Way
Pitkin County/Courtesy Photo
The flourishing natural and built environment section of the budget is 60% of Pitkin County’s $164 million overall budget.
“It’s an area that tends to be more heavy in capital projects,” Pitkin County Budget Director Connie Baker said during a Tuesday presentation. “So that’s why it is usually much larger than some of the more service focused parts of the budget.”
The airport is the largest portion at slightly more than $37 million, or 23%. Transit sales and use tax — passed through sales tax that is paid out by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority, the city of Aspen, and the town of Snowmass Village — makes up 20% at $33.5 million. The solid waste center makes up 16% at $25.7 million. And Open Space and Trails makes up 12% at $20.2 million.
When looking at the three-year expenditure comparison for this portion of the budget, there are “some large swings” year to year in some areas, Baker said. This comes from capital projects, like Vision 2050 with a 23.1% budget increase, as well as some shifts in staff responsibilities in the infrastructure department with an 84.7% budget increase.
The solid waste center is also undergoing its biggest phase of the landfill expansion project, which increases its budget 82.1%.
“If you’re putting capital and operations in together and saving up for projects one year and then doing the larger projects another year, you can expect that you’ll see … some of the larger percentage increases,” Baker said.
Deputy County Manager Rich Englehart had his last budget meeting Tuesday with the county after he announced his retirement last month. He also noted that he found it interesting that two of his departments have ballot questions that affect his departments this year, which include the airport and the landfill.
Englehart called the meeting “bittersweet,” as he presented an overview of the infrastructure services, which make up the flourishing natural and built environment section of the budget. These services include public works, road and bridge, the fleet fund, the solid waste center fund, the airport fund, and engineering.
Engineering
The engineering department’s main responsibilities are road and bridge capital investments, paving projects, bridge replacements, culver work, and a traffic counting program for all county roads, Pitkin County Engineer Andrew Knapp said.
In 2024, the county chip seal project chipped 270,000 square feet of roadway, which equals 8.75 million fruit rollups, 3.75 million sheets of paper, 42 football fields, and two Aspen-Pitkin County Airport runways.
In 2025, priorities for the engineering department include lower river road paving, culvert replacement and drainage improvements, full depth patching, ADA compliance for Rio Grande Trail crossings, asphalt overlay, Sopris Creek culvert replacement, and Redstone south bridge replacement.
Changes to the 2025 budget also include Redstone South Bridge design and construction estimates, Castle Creek settlement repair, and adjustment of timber bridge design schedules at Lime Creek and Woody Creek, and the refinement of Lower River Road.
The Lower River Road project is projected to cost over $2 million in the 2025 budget.
“We’re looking at paving Lower River Road. It’s a good time. It got a lot of extra traffic this year from people seeking alternative routes around the Highway 82 work in Snowmass Canyon,” Knapp said.
At Sopris Creek Road, there is a failing steel culvert. The county engineering department has done a hydraulic study of that area and identified the proper sizing of the culverts based on the past 100 years of storm events there. This project design is estimated to cost $50,000 in the 2025 budget. The construction is estimated to cost $650,000 in the 2026 budget.
The engineering department is also moving forward with the Redstone South Bridge replacement project. There will be public outreach events in February and August 2025, which coincide with different design milestones, Knapp said. The county hopes to complete that design in fall 2025 in order to apply for bridge improvement grant funds through the federal government.
Depending on grants, the bridge replacement is targeted for 2026 for a cost of $5 million.
Lime Creek Bridge was constructed in 1955, and the engineering department is looking to replace it with a more modern structure that has guardrails and will provide another 75 years of lifespan. The design of these two bridges are expected to cost $100,000 each in the 2026 budget.
There was also a last minute change to the engineering budget, which was the Highway 82 intersection improvements, which were supported by the commissioners at an early October meeting.
The commissioners unanimously expressed support for a Highway Safety Improvement Program grant application for Colorado Highway 82 projects at Lazy Glen and Smith Way, in the form of a new crossover that will force drivers to complete a U-turn rather than crossing two lanes of traffic at Smith Way and Juniper Hill Road and adding a left-turn acceleration lane at Lazy Glen. These improvements are estimated to cost $300,000.
In 2026, the engineering department will complete another chip seal year, likely looking at Brush Creek Road to preserve that pavement and get additional lifespan out of that pavement. This will cost $350,000. Castle Creek will also undergo chip seal during this year for the same amount.
“I think anybody’s eyes looking at the number of bridges, roads, trails, things that you have to keep track of, to maintain on a regular basis, and everything requires maintenance, especially when we have the traffic volumes that we seem to have these days,” Knapp said.
On Thursday, Nov. 7, commissioners will hear presentations from the Community Development (General Fund), REMP Fund, Open Space & Trails Fund, Healthy Rivers & Streams Fund, Translator Fund, and Public Safety Radio Fund.
Pitkin County commissioners heard the livable and supportive community budget on Oct. 15.
Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.
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