#Frisco #Colorado
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| Special to the Summit Daily |
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As of Thursday, there will be no more Dickey Day Use Area.
On June 8, the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado Department of Transportation will close the popular trailhead and dirt parking lot on Highway 9 between Frisco and Breckenridge. The lot, which connects to heavily used hiking and biking trails in the Frisco Peninsula trail system, will be closed through the remainder of summer.
The closure at Dickey Day coincides with second phase of the $22.6 million Iron Springs realignment project on a 1.25-mile stretch of Highway 9. On Wednesday evening (June 7), CDOT expects a "significant traffic switch" when the newly completed Highway 9 realignment opens on the south side of the current alignment, with two lanes of traffic, plus flaggers to guide motorists and cyclists.
When the Iron Springs project is completed, motor vehicle traffic will no longer pass by the lot. Instead, CDOT plans to realign the Summit County recreation pathway (aka Blue River Bikeway) with the trailheads at Dickey Day. That portion of the recpath will take users along the lakeshore and is expected to open in summer 2018 when the highway realignment is complete.
So what does all this mean for the hundreds (and probably more like thousands) of hikers, bikers and dog walkers who use Dickey Day? For starters, no more motorized access to trailheads within tripping distance of Lake Dillon's shores. CDOT and contractors are in the process of building a new, paved parking lot at the entrance to the Frisco Adventure Park (intersection of Peninsula Road and Recreation Way). Barring any issues, CDOT officials expect the new lot to open on Thursday when Dickey Day closes. It opens with a short (about 0.5 miles) strip of unpaved connector trail leading downhill to the Dickey Day dirt lot. From there, users can connect with peninsula trails like the Lakeshore Perimeter loop.
After this summer, CDOT and USFS officials have no plans for reopening Dickey Day to motorized vehicles — the new highway will be several thousand yards to the south by then, with no connecting roads — but officials do plan on building a new, paved path for trail users. This trail, dubbed the Dickey Connector Path, will open on Thursday as a rough dirt connector. It will be paved next summer when the highway and recpath alignments are wrapped up, according to CDOT, but officials have yet to announce an opening date.
