Eidson: Yes on 1, no on 2
My family and I have owned a home in Aspen for over 30 years. My mother in law was Harriet Tschappat, whom some of you may remember, and my brother in law and his family still live in Aspen.
Rachel Richards and those favoring Referendum 2 want to create a better entrance to Aspen. They don’t tell how or even show a picture of their proposal in their ads. Ask them how long we will wait until the straight shot is built? It is not on CDOT’S 10-year planning list plus they have no money available for the project! A new EIS is unavoidable plus there will be pending litigation. There are no design drawings and the consultants can not give cost estimates without a page of exceptions. The most optimistic case sounds like 10-15 years, are we willing to wait that long? How long is the community expected to sit in their car if the need to evacuate town arose? The worst case estimate is 14-16 hours Using the city’s metrics, Aspen would need a 13-14 lane bridge excluding one lane inbound for first responders to fully evacuate. Even with a straight shot using all lanes the estimate is four hours. Are you willing to sit in your car for four hours when you can walk or ride your bike to a defensible location anywhere in town? If you say yes to any of the above you may die waiting.
Referendum 2 is not a good solution. The effective way ahead is to rebuild the existing bridge, guaranteeing access, and then move forward with an innovative solution. Vote yes on 1 and no on 2.
Wayne Eidson
Aspen
Colorado biologists caught 3 rare Colorado pikeminnows. What does that mean for the future of this critically endangered fish?
In October, Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists were conducting a routine fish survey on the Colorado River when they made an extremely rare catch.
