Heavy snow closes Summit County roads

#Summit County, Colorado.

Summit Daily News Link

A fast-moving winter storm combined with heavy traffic is creating closures on Interstate 70 between Vail Pass and Denver. The highway has already seen three closures Friday morning, due to several accidents and slides as the heavy snow created slick roads.

Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Bob Wilson said drivers should expect commercial vehicle chain laws and passenger vehicle traction laws to remain in effect “as long as the storm is gripping the corridor like right now.”

The storm currently extends west to Avon, and almost as far east as Denver. Passenger traction laws require vehicles to have snow tires, four-wheel drive, or alternative traction devices such as chains or Autosocks.

“Part of the problem is the storm came in extremely fast,” Wilson said. “We’ve just had a lot of traffic, and a lot of slipping and sliding when the storm came in pretty ferocious.”

Colorado State Patrol trooper Josh Lewis said he did not see any reports of serious injuries from Friday morning’s accidents. While he couldn’t give an exact number, he noted there had been “a lot of slide-offs.”

“Most people just need to slow down to avoid going into a guardrail or a median,” Lewis said. “There are gonna be more people off the road than there are troopers to help them.”

Within Summit County, Dillon Dam Road remained closed as gusts of more than 20 mph combined with fresh snow restricted visibility along the road. Summit County Road and Bridge foreman Vic Schroeder said they hoped to reopen the road as soon as visibility improves.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Bleisure: Business travelers at ski resorts get slope time

#Breckenridge, Colorado.

Summit Daily News Link

On most business trips, you have to squeeze in time for fun with evening outings, layovers and days added to the trip. But if your meeting is at a ski resort, you’ll likely find your schedule is intentionally blank for a block of hours midday, so you can enjoy the slopes.

Continuing education programs for medical and legal professionals make up one of the largest segments of group business travel to ski resorts in Colorado each winter. Usually these meetings start early, with sessions from 6:30 a.m. or 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. Then they recess for a few hours, so participants can enjoy the best part of the day skiing or snowboarding. Meetings then resume from 3:30 p.m. or 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m.

“They want to conduct business, attend seminars and learn and grow in their professions, but they also want to enjoy these resorts,” said Marcella Bettis, director of sales and marketing for the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, Colorado, which hosts 35 to 50 such meetings each winter. “Often times, they bring their families, too, especially when it’s a long-term program that’s been in the valley for years. They say, ‘This is an opportunity to bring my family while doing business.’”

For some organizations, mixing ski trips and professional pursuits is a tradition.

“Some continuing education groups have been visiting Snowmass for 40-plus years,” said Rose Abello, tourism director for Snowmass in Aspen, Colorado, where continuing education groups made up a third of group business last winter.

And group business isn’t all continuing education. Lamborghini, the luxury carmaker, has hosted a VIP driving school at Snowmass for top customers including days on an ice track plus skiing, and the American Institute of Architects is coming this winter.

“It’s a good business for the resort industry,” said Michael Berry, spokesman for the National Ski Areas Association, who said that ski areas in other reg ions — including Utah and Vermont — host business groups as well.

But while major convention cities like New York, New Orleans or Orlando, Florida attract thousands of participants to individual events, ski resort meetings “aren’t huge. These are seminars for 75 to 150 people,” said Bettis.

For those who don’t ski or snowboard, other activities include spas, culinary classes and snowmobiling.

Some meetings head to the mountains in the summer, when outdoor fun includes hiking and biking. Colorado’s famed Aspen Institute is busier hosting conferences in summer than winter, though they host winter events as well. The institute’s meetings range from executive and leadership seminars to its Socrates program, which introduces participants to the great books and the Socratic method.

“For an executive who loves to ski, it’s an opportunity to mix a winter vacation with an educational seminar,” said Killeen Brettmann, spokeswoman for the Aspen Institute. Sometimes staffers pair with participants for time on the slopes, according to skill level. “With the Socrates seminar, generally what happens is someone from the institute will say, ‘Who’s an expert skier, who’s a beginner?’ Then if you’d like to participate in the group, you can go, but you also have the option to go off on your own.”

Smaller ski areas also attract group business, often with team-building activities or fun group outings for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing. At Canaan Valley Resort in Davis, West Virginia, group sleigh rides are popular. At Sleeping Giant in Cody, Wyoming, ice climbing is a specialty.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Breckenridge Ski Resort summer expansion gets final approval

#Breckenridge, Colorado.

Summit Daily News Link

New summer attractions are officially coming soon to Breckenridge Ski Resort.

The U.S. Forest Service announced on Monday its final decision on Vail Resorts’ so-called Epic Discovery summer activities project for Breckenridge, approving a plan dating back to 2013. The White River National Forest’s approval for year-round usage lays the stage for a mix of new features throughout the resort, among them zip lines, a climbing wall, observation tower, hiking and biking trails.

“The activities are not all about thrill and adventure,” Roger Poirier, the Forest Service’s team leader on the project, said in a news release. “The project includes a number of interpretive and educational activities and exhibits as well.”

The original proposal was permitted via 2011’s Ski Area Recreational Opportunities Enhancement Act, sponsored by then-U.S. Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) and signed by President Obama, giving the go-ahead to existing ski resorts nationwide already operating on federal lands to pursue summer recreation activities. The law updated the National Forest Ski Permit Act of 1986, which limited mountain recreation to only alpine and Nordic skiing.

With the approval, Breckenridge becomes the third leg of Vail Resorts’ overarching plan, after similar concepts were green-lighted for Vail Mountain in October 2014 and Heavenly in Lake Tahoe, California in May. Future summer expansion for Vail’s other four resorts, Beaver Creek, Keystone, as well as Kirkwood and Northstar in California, are expected down the road.

While representatives of Breckenridge and Vail Resorts were pleased with the final stamp of approval for the project from the Forest Service, some local activists are not as enthusiastic. Issues voiced during both the original scoping and environment impact statement periods ranged from unease over the impact of increased numbers of visitors to the area because of the activities to the impact on wildlife habitats and behavior.

Others, like longtime Breckenridge resident Leigh Girvin raised concerns over the amount — and intensity — of the new attractions, particularly in sensitive areas of the land.

“The activities are getting uncomfortably close to the definition of an amusement park,” said Girvin, who identifies herself as a community activist and environmental advocate. “I’m still of the opinion that zip lines and canopy tours in particular start to border on that. These technologies are always advancing, to the point of being more like a chairlift,” she said, adding, “It sure looks like something out of Six Flags to me.”

Poirier, the forest’s mountain sports program manager, said that the Forest Service and resort worked hand-in-hand throughout the process, going back and forth several times, to ensure the accepted activities fit within the agency’s goals as well as the general forest plan. Changes were also made based on public input, and he pointed to a handful of activities, namely those on the higher portion of the mountain, being adjusted or eliminated altogether. Those included reducing the amount and locations of trails for hiking and mountain biking and relocating the observation deck.

Initial estimates for what impact the summer additions could have on the region — such as the total number of new visitors and actual consequences on the local economy — are, at this point, imprecise. A 2014 U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate indicated that among the 122 ski areas inhabiting 180,000 acres of land nationwide, the summer expansion program will eventually net 600,000 more national forest visits, $40 million infused into mountain communities, and an expected 600 additional full- or part-time jobs.

Early local figures, based on just two or three years of summer planning, suggest somewhere around 150,000 new summer callers to Breckenridge, but other effects remain unclear. “There’s no crystal ball for the exact number of guests and financial benefits to community,” said Poirier, contacted by phone. “We have a much better idea of the ebb and flow of the skier market.” He also noted that summer out-of-town guests have shown to be a different demographic.

Construction on the brand new Epic Discovery at Breckenridge is currently scheduled to begin summer 2016, with some of the attractions ready by the following summer.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

National Geogaphic wildlife photographer to visit Breckenridge

#Breckenridge, Colorado.

David Doubilet / Special to the Daily | NGS Image Collection

Summit Daily News Link

National Geographic’s photographer David Doubilet and photojournalist Jennifer Hayes will be sharing their behind-the-scenes adventures on Wednesday, Nov. 18, as they present their journey from Antarctica to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, introducing sea creatures they meet along the way. “Coral Kingdoms and Empires of Ice” is part of the “National Geographic Live!” speaker series, presented by Breckenridge Creative Arts, at the Riverwalk Center.

Doubilet has been taking his camera into the water since he was young.

“I’ve been taking pictures, seriously taking pictures, ever since I was 12 years old,” he said. “The first time I dove was in a little lake in the Adirondacks. Actually it wasn’t a dive, it was more like a snorkel.”

Hayes shared the same passion for all things aquatic.

“I’ve kind of been addicted to aquatic things,” she said. “Not just marine, or ocean, but wet things, the liquid earth if you will.”

For Doubilet, the moment he put on his mask and dove in, life changed.

“I knew that putting your head underwater changed how you perceive this planet,” he said.“It was a fascinating way of capturing a moment. I was going into a world that not many photographers went into.”

Although he always knew he was going to be a photographer, Hayes found the camera calling through her first passion.

“I came to this unusual partnership with underwater through science,” she said. “I would go to symposiums and scientific workshops and meetings and presentations, and I would put up pie charts and bar graphs discussing this great fish I was studying called the sturgeon, which are magnificently big and amazing, and I’m using numbers and lines to describe them.”

She began to take pictures of the sturgeon in its natural environment to use for her presentations.

“Kind of out of necessity I began taking photographs to tell the story of these ancient creatures I was researching and to drive the point across,” she said. “I got so much better responses and listening amplitude from the audience when I put up these very cool photographs.”

Doubilet references “Earthrise,” the iconic Apollo 8 photograph from 1968, as one of the reasons he became an underwater photographer.

“It’s the first time that humans really realize how fragile and how finite their planet is,” he said. “There was much, much more for me and that’s the fact that this glittering sapphire of a planet, this piece of life, in an absolutely cold universe without life, is blue. And blue is the color of life, and blue is the color of water, and it’s 70 percent of our planet, and you can’t think of a better draw for a place to work and a place to see things. I can’t think of another place I’d like to be.”

It’s safe to say that a photograph resulted in a photographer when it comes to him and his work. With Hayes, she admits that she never really took her head out of the water.

“Most people would go into business, law, maybe (be) a veterinarian, but I kept my head underwater as my parents looked on with dismay,” she said. “I got a degree that translates into so many things, and it’s taken me to so many places and allowed me to experience jobs in every sector from private, government to university and now into storytelling. So it’s been a really great pathway.”

Through these paths and love of the water, it seemed like only a matter of time until these two became introduced to National Geographic, but for both, the opportunity came much earlier than later.

“I began to work for National Geographic when I was still at Boston University,” Doubilet said. “My senior year, I did a story for them, then the year after I graduated, I began another story. And that began a career.”

Doubilet worked with his professor, Eugenia Clark, on most of these stories for National Geographic. At the same time and unbeknownst to either of them, Hayes was working with Clark as well.

“When I was in graduate school at Maryland, my professor, Eugenia Clark — her alias was the ‘Shark Lady’ — had worked with David on a dozen assignments for National Geographic,” Hayes said. “National Geographic funded her to go out and research many topics and that’s what I was studying with her.”

Through Clark, a business partnership evolved between Doubilet and Hayes with National Geographic, and as the two worked together and shared their passion, a personal relationship grew, and the two are now married.

WHAT LIES AHEAD

They have a lot of work ahead of them and have been integrating more personal projects into their mix.

“We have a good story lineup,” Hayes said. “We’ve been taking on projects that have personal meaning to us.”

The two are headed to the Philippines in 2016 for National Geographic as well as having some work in Indonesia. Iceland and Greenland were also mentioned as some stops over the next few years.

“Our immediate goal is literally documenting coral reef systems in the most abundant bio-diverse places,” she said. “What are the places that are highest at risk? What’s here? We want to see it before it’s gone, record it and get in there and share it, then be a part of its evolution.”

On Wednesday, she and Doubilet will share their adventures and stories of the creatures below. From beluga whales, to fatal bites and even a rescue story, the two will share their experience with National Geographic and will present the “story behind the story” as they show battles and triumphs from Malaria to dolphin rescues. Tickets range from $25-$45. Kids and students are $10.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Summit County votes to close four stretches of road to winter motorized vehicles

#Summit County, Colorado.

Summit Daily News Link

New regulations this winter would restrict access for snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles to sections of road entering restricted areas of the White River National Forest. The changes are effective immediately, after the Board of County Commissioners voted on a resolution to amend the Open Space Rules and Regulations and Snowmobile Ordinance 13.

Under the new regulations, winter motor vehicle access to Gold Run Gulch, Boreas Pass, Baldy and Sallie Barber roads would be restricted.

Prior to the change, the roads would lead to land that motor vehicles may not access under the White River National Forest Travel Management Plan and the Golden Horseshoe Management Plan. The plans were approved after more than 10 years of public review, with the intention of protecting natural resources and recreation opportunities for the public.

“So many places have a checker-boarding of land ownership, it’s important for us to work together and be consistent,” Summit County Commissioner Karn Stiegelmeier said.

She added that under the agreement, non-motorized recreational uses would be protected in those areas. For example, the county received a request from the town of Breckenridge to close the Golden Horseshoe area to motorized use in the winter, as the site is popular for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

Ownership of the land is combined between the U.S. Forest Service, Breckenridge, Summit County Open Space & Trails and a few private entities. Landowners with properties behind the closure points will not be affected by the changes in access.

“These changes are necessary to ensure that we have uniform, consistent management of natural resources across jurisdictional boundaries,” Stiegelmeier said in a statement. “They also help separate motorized uses from non-motorized uses, so that everyone’s recreational experiences are safer and more enjoyable.”

Vehicles that took the roads only to reach the boundary would either trespass onto restricted forest land or simply be forced to turn around.

“They would leave the roads and travel into unauthorized areas,” said Katherine King, senior resource specialist for Summit County Open Space and Trails. “Vehicles would also travel on these roads when it was a low-snow year. They would travel one of these roads, the snow would get deeper and they would get stuck.”

She added in the next few weeks, signs would be placed at the site of the new closures.

“We’re moving the closure points to a place that makes more practical sense to manage,” she added.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Let's go tie a fly

#Colorado.

Summit Daily News Link

When local Ray Kyle won the Iron Fly in February, he was coming off months of training.

The Iron Fly is to anglers what the Iron Chef is to cooks, where competitors are given a bag of various materials and must create a masterpiece using what they’re given. The secret to Kyle’s success was not unique to fly-fishing, he just stuck to a time-tested adage that guarantees good results no matter the discipline — practice makes perfect.

“Now is the time to tie,” Kyle said on Thursday. “Earlier nights lead to longer evenings, where you can’t go out and fish. From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. I’m behind the vice, building up my fly box.”

Kyle, 34, is a guide at Fly Fishing Outfitters, where he is known as an administrator at the new school of fly tying, using synthetic materials, flashy colors and UV2 treated products which catch the fish’s eye. Meanwhile, Kyle’s colleague at Fly Fishing Outfitters, Kip Wolcott, has been at it since Kyle was a teenager. Wolcott is from the old school, using as many natural materials as possible.

Their boss, shop owner John Packer, has been sitting back and watching the two schools converge during the past few years.

“The dead bird or dead deer on the side of the road is still the meat and potatoes of tying flies, but there’s so many different synthetic materials now,” Packer said. “Deer hair will trap air inside the fibers of the hairs which is why it floats so well. It’s impossible to replicate — you can’t make synthetic deer or elk hair. But (manufacturers) are learning to treat some of this stuff now with UV2, which the fish can see better.”

‘IN TUNE WITH THE ENTOMOLOGY OF THE RIVER’

Packer says the sport’s recent evolution has inspired him to have his guides host winter clinics for fly tying. They’ll begin next week with classes for both beginners and intermediate to advanced anglers.

“There’s so much new stuff out there, and so many new materials, it just adds a whole new level to what you can do,” he said.

During the Iron Fly, Kyle was given a tampon, a piece of bicycle tire tubing and a used lace from a wading boot.

“There were some really good tyers in the field, and Ray just came in and blew them away,” Packer said. “It kind of makes you realize just how much these young guys are focusing on this and what they’re bringing to the craft.”

Another member of Packer’s staff is a former professional flyfisherman from Holland, Jason Lieverst. Lieverst brought a technique called European nymphing to Packer’s shop, which has flipped the sport on its head while flipping the anger’s hook toward the surface. It’s called a jig hook, and it arrives in the water hook-side up, making it much less likely to snag the river bed.

“The big trend is going toward those jig hooks, for all of your nymphs,” Packer said. “People are tying traditional patterns, that have been used on regular hooks, and now tying them on a jig hook with a bead head.”

Heavy jargon like the terms tossed around Packer’s shop will all be defined and made understandable through his beginner classes.

“As tyers, you really start learning the names of the flies, and you start learning what fly is associated with what hatch is going on,” Kyle said.

“It gets you more in tune with the entomology of the river,” Wolcott added.

New technology and materials will be the stuff of the advanced classes.

“The way this sport is going, we all have things we can learn and practice to improve our skills,” Packer said. “It’s $100 for three classes, and you’ll get a complete tool assortment and some materials to take home with you.”

Beginner classes will be held Mondays starting Nov. 16. Intermediate and advanced classes will be held Wednesdays starting Dec. 2.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Breckenridge Town Council passes amended aggressive solicitation ordinance

#Breckenridge, Colorado.

Summit Daily News Link

Due to a shifting legal landscape, the town of Breckenridge has amended its “Aggressive Solicitation Ordinance” to conform to several recent precedents.

“We had to bring it into alignment with what the (Supreme) court said is constitutional,” Breckenridge Police chief Shannon Haynes said.

The tide began to turn this June with the Supreme Court’s decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Arizona. The court concluded the town’s comprehensive sign code was unconstitutional because it established varying sign rules based on content.

In their decision, the court determined government regulation of speech is content-based if it addresses the topic or idea communicated. First Amendment related precedents have established that when a government regulation is found to be content-based it must meet a “strict scrutiny” test, and will only be permissible if the regulation is purposely geared to meet a compelling government interest.

Although the Gilbert case concerned regulating sign content, after the decision was announced its holding was applied to other First Amendment speech cases. Most notably federal courts have refered to the definition of content-based government regulation established in Gilbert in ruling that a number of municipalities panhandling and aggressive solicitation ordinances were unconstitutional.

“The ACLU has been very active in trying to get local towns and municipalities to change their code,” Haynes said.

In fact the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado sued the City of Fort Collins in February over its solicitation ordinance, which was settled out of court when the rules were amended. This year Greeleynarrowly avoided litigation over the same issue and Colorado Spring police were instructed to stop enforcing parts of that city’s panhandling ordinance.

On Sept. 30, a Federal District Court ruled that a panhandling ordinance in Grand Junction violated the First Amendment rights of anyone who solicited charity in public places. The court rejected Grand Junction’s contention that the regulations were needed for public safety.

“Panhandling ordinances were found to be not constitutional because they violate free speech rights,” Haynes said. “The Grand Junction ruling made it clear what you could or could not have in an ordinance.”

Breckenridge Town Councilwoman Wendy Wolfe said the revisions are in accordance with the newly defined legal boundaries.

“Our amended ordinance removes any reference to controlling content or free speech by any individual on town property,” she said.

Steve Lapinsohn, who owns multiple businesses on Main Street in Breckenridge, said so many of his follow retail operators expressed concerns about panhandling that he gathered signatures and presented the issue to town council.

“I think everyone was surprised by the restrictions,” he said. “It’s disturbing and it has been disturbing to all of us.”

Tales of woe shared by Lapinsohn include doorways and store entrances occupied by transients for sleeping quarters, sleeping bags dotting the riverbank and people being aggressively approached for money in parking lots.

“A couple of these businesses had some of these people smelling like goats in front of their business,” he said.

Haynes noted that the Grand Junction case targeted specific clauses in the city’s panhandling ordinance that mandated a distance limit for solicitation in front of a business or ATM and restricted requests after dark. She explained that Breckenridge had similar language in its aggressive solicitation ordinance.

“We can’t be enforcing parts of our code that judges in Colorado have said are unconstitutional,” she said. “Many people might say these are reasonable but the court didn’t see it that way.”

Although the town has revised its regulations to avoid potential litigation, there are still restrictions in place.

Behaviors still prohibited in the aggressive solicitation ordinance include: Purposely touching or causing physical contact without consent; deliberately obstructing or interfering with a pedestrian or vehicle’s safe and free passage; gesturing violently or threateningly; using profane or abusive language to provoke a violent reaction.

The ordinance also prohibits a group of two or more persons from approaching or following someone to solicit property or money, using conduct or language intended to convey imminent bodily harm or damage.

In a press release following the Grand Junction ruling, Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado legal director, said his group is not opposed to these types of regulations.

“The ACLU does not object to carefully tailored regulations that target coercive, threatening, or menacing solicitations that actually invade the rights of others,” Silverstein said. “But we oppose, and the First Amendment prohibits, broad regulations that outlaw peaceful, polite, and nonthreatening requests for assistance.”

Haynes was quick to point out that despite the changes some things will stay the same. For example police will still stop someone if they are deemed to be following another with the intent to cause harm.

“We can still address the behaviors people are concerned about,” she said. “We will always help people who need assistance.”

The town of Breckenridge has other regulations that police can apply, Wolfe explained.

“The town continues to enforce our ordinance on harassment which may apply to some incidents of panhandling,” Wolfe said.

Breck police will focus on criminal violations, Haynes explained, or if someone is infringing on another’s rights.

“You shouldn’t criminalize that someone is down on their luck,” she said. “But if the behavior crosses that line it becomes harassment.”

Lapinsohn said the town has done everything it could thus far.

“We have got to look at it and see what we can do,” he said. “If you arrest these people you’re giving them a place to sleep and eat.”

In lieu of arresting those who are homeless, and might have challenges related to mental illness or abuse issues, Haynes said officers will escort the person to detox, provide a bus ticket elsewhere or direct them to a community outreach agency.

“You can’t take all these folks and lump them into one bucket,” she said. “Many of them end up in odd places they never expected.”

To alleviate potential anxieties over the changes to the aggressive panhandling ordinance, a police presence will be added to Main Street.

“In consideration of recent panhandling concerns from our community, the council recommended that our Police Department add an officer on foot to Main Street,” Wolfe said. “We believe that the presence of a uniformed police officer on Main Street will help our guests and residents feel safe in our town.”

Haynes has proposed hiring a community service officer, which she said will be an easier position to fill and requires less training. The entire process could take between two and four months, she said.

Until the presence of a beat cop provides a ready resource, Haynes said people shouldn’t hesitate to contact the police if they feel uncomfortable, or something doesn’t seem right.

“It’s always easier for us to respond and make an assessment,” she noted.

Wolfe echoed that thought, stressing that the changes do not mean police will not address aggressive solicitation.

“We encourage our community to call the Breckenridge Police anytime a citizen feels he or she is being harassed by a panhandler,” she said.

Lapinsohn said it may be an issue of life choices, but that shouldn’t factor into others’ lives.

“A lot of these people want to live that way, but if it infringes on the other’s rights, that’s a problem,” he said.

The town council passed the amended ordinance at a first reading during its meeting on Nov. 10. The council will hold a second reading and public hearing at its next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Road delays continue as CDOT wraps up I-70 mountain corridor projects

#Breckenridge, Colorado.

Summit Daily News Link

Road delays are abundant across Interstate 70, where multiple construction projects are wrapping up this fall. Expect regular lane closures through Thanksgiving, as crews wrap up work on the Mountain Express Lane west of Idaho Springs and a fire suppression system in the Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnels.

“We will see traffic delays this weekend,” Colorado Department of Transportation communications director Amy Ford said. The delays may exceed 30 minutes as crew finish paving and sign installation for the new toll lane.

Once the construction work is complete, additional closures may be in order as CDOT tests the new equipment. Ford said they hope to see the entire project complete by Dec. 12, before holiday crowds make their way across the corridor.

In the meantime, expect lane closures between Georgetown and Idaho Springs each Saturday, with 30-minute delays eastbound on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and 30-minute delays westbound between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The 13-mile shoulder lane, converted into a toll road on high-volume weekends, will guarantee a 30-minute reduction in traffic time for drivers willing to pay a toll ranging from $3 to $30. The goal is to have a rate of 750 to 900 vehicles per hour in the lane, with sliding tolls used to monitor traffic volume.

“Over the first month or so, it will be a test,” Ford said. “We will use the pricing as a way of managing how congested the lane gets.”

She added that the hope would be to reduce traffic in the regular lanes as well, if not as dramatically as in the express lane. While the maximum toll price is steep, on the weekends, about 90 percent of traffic on the I-70 corridor is comprised of recreational travellers.

“People who are in the corridor that weekend have chosen already to make an investment in recreation,” Ford said. “We’ll be curious to see where that evens itself out.”

TUNNEL TRAFFIC

While work to a new, $20 million fire suppression system, is nearly complete, CDOT will continue testing throughout the month of November. The system is expected to be fully functional by the end of December.

“People could expect a few more nights of closure as we do testing and training,” CDOT spokeswoman Emily Wilfong said.

One closure for testing will likely take place Sunday night, if weather complies. Staff training at the tunnels could lead to additional closures later in December.

“We don’t set a fire, but we simulate that, and see how the system works in responding and reacting,” Ford said.

The system is not designed to fully extinguish fires, but will use a linear heat detection system to locate fires and suppress them, giving crews time to respond without a greater risk of damage to the tunnel.

Once both projects are complete, Wilfong said there would be no major construction on the corridor next year, aside from a few smaller items.

“Starting next year, we won’t have any major work on the roadway,” she added. “Really, we’re going to be out of people’s hair for a while.”

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Officials seek feedback on plans for Frisco's Transit Center

#Summit County, Colorado.

Courtesy of the Summit County Planning Department

Summit Daily News Link

Plans to revamp Summit’s transit hub will go to the public next week at an open house on Wednesday, Nov. 18. As county officials draft a master plan for the Frisco Transit Center, they are working to gather citizens’ feedback before finalizing the plan in December.

“We’re going to be presenting some conceptual design ideas that we’ve come up with, get input, and use the input that we get to develop design ideas and a final master plan by the end of the year,” Summit County senior planner Kate Berg said.

The short-term goals of the project are to improve circulation and visibility at the station by creating designated areas for the many buses that pass through, and building a better indoor waiting space for passengers.

“There will be some real tangible ideas for folks to get an idea of what we’re thinking,” Berg said. “We started with 11 concepts, and we’re trying to meld them into one plan.”

Once the final plan is developed, she said the group would work with RNL Design to plan the first construction phase for next summer, with construction potentially starting as early as May. A cost estimate for the project will not be available until the plan is finalized, though a $593,000 planning and construction grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation will assist with the improvements.

“So far, we have a lot of good options,” assistant county manager Thad Noll said. “We can do a lot of that with the infrastructure currently in place.”

A GROWING NEED

A master plan to improve the transit center has been in place since 1999, but the new plan, inspired by a design charette from Brynn Grey Partners, expands to fit projected transportation needs in future years.

The center sees an average of 1,000 riders daily and serves a growing number of transportation services, including the Summit Stage, Bustang, Greyhound, Hertz rentals and four different airport shuttles.

“When this was built, the Greyhound may have used it, and Bustang wasn’t even on anyone’s horizon,” county transit director Jim Andrew said. “There was one airport shuttle back then. Today we’ve got four.”

He estimated that 80 or 90 shuttles travel through the lot each day.

“It’s a more intensive use of the facility than when it was first created,” he added.

While no extra room has been allocated to expand the six-acre property, the plan would reorganize traffic to allow buses to move through with more ease. The plan would include eight bus bays, with distinct spaces for each of the different operators.

“Hopefully we’re coming up with something that makes better use of the space that we’ve got,” Andrew said.

BUILDING A BETTER SPACE

In the long term, the Transit Center would serve as more of a “landmark,” with visitor information, including local and regional transit schedules, as well as outlets and other necessities.

The building and bus shelters would also be renovated to allow for better visibility for passengers. Berg said they were looking at creating a larger, more open building that would allow riders to see their bus from indoors. The waiting area would also feature long, heated bus shelters.

“For visitors, a lot of them are arriving on a shuttle from the airport the first time they step in the county,” Noll said. “For locals, we want it to be a place that you feel safe, it’s attractive, and if you have some time to blow waiting for a bus you do it there.”

He added that he hoped to see a coffee shop nearby.

Wednesday’s open house will be located at at Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Frisco, from 4:30-6:30 p.m., where preliminary designs will be provided for feedback.

“Big picture, we want to get as much input as we can, because you never know where the next good idea’s gonna come from,” Noll said.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.

Early-season uphill access at Keystone, Copper, Breckenridge and A-Basin

#Summit County, Colorado.

Summit Daily News Link

There’s something oddly exciting about the White Strip of Death.

At Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, home to the unofficial strip (also known as High Noon run), hundreds of people waited in line for upwards of 30 minutes in the first two weeks of the season for a brief taste of white gold. For most, it was worth the wait, even if such a long delay for barren terrain would make folks questions their sanity in January.

But, come January, the true A-Basin faithful won’t even bother waiting for the lift to start spinning. The ski area is a favorite for a passionate group of locals who prefer to work for their turns, longtime residents like 68-year-old Doris Spencer and 76-year-old Kent Willoughby. And, since all Summit resorts are on U.S. Forest Service land, the terrain is open to the public — within the guidelines of ski area special-use permits.

Like neighboring resorts, A-Basin allows uphill access before and after operating hours, clearing the trails for anyone who prefers skinning or snowshoeing over freezing on an exposed chair. Not that the hours around dawn and dusk are any warmer, but there’s something liberating about trekking up the hill in the heart of winter.

November is a different beast. Thanks to snowmaking and grooming operations, all four Summit County resorts limit uphill travel early in the season. The slopes will open for uphill travel soon enough, but, until then, it pays to study up on the rules for early and peak-season travel.

KEYSTONE

Snow, snow and more snow in the past week has made a world of difference at Keystone Resort. The resort opened with just one run and download-only service on Nov. 6. By Nov. 11, skiers and boarders were greeted by an early-season terrain park and top-to-bottom service on River Run.

But, that doesn’t mean the resort’s main artery is ready for uphill travel. Cats and snowmakers are still working early in the morning and late at night, which means the trail is off-limits to uphill travel (along with every other trail).

Keystone will officially open for uphill travel in the next few weeks. Keep your eye on the resort’s Facebook and Twitter account for any news. When the restriction is lifted, remember the basics: No pets, travel only before 8:30 a.m. or after 5 p.m., never wander into closed terrain and always let someone know where you’re headed before you go.

BRECKENRIDGE

When Breckenridge Ski Resort opens tomorrow, it welcomes winter with the most Opening Day terrain of the season: Three runs, three lifts and 80-plus acres of skiable terrain.

And, like its sister resort at Keystone, uphill access is restricted on all of it. The two resorts follow similar guidelines throughout the season, including no pets and no access while lifts are spinning.

That said, Breckenridge restricts access to certain routes. There are seven routes spread between Peaks 7, 8, 9 and 10 — Peak 8 is home to four of the seven — with no uphill travel on Peak 6. See theBreckenridge website for a complete list of approved routes.

For now, watch Breck’s social media for updates on uphill restrictions throughout the season. The resort set up a hotline a few seasons ago to spread info about grooming operations and the like. Give it a call before you head out at (970) 547-5627.

COPPER

Copper Mountain Resort opened with a blessed coat of fresh powder yesterday, but even 14-plus inches in the past week wasn’t enough to cover everything. The snow guns were blowing all day near the base of American Eagle, and cats were busy at work on the Eagle Jib Park just below the upper terminal.

At night, those operations ramp up nearly tenfold, which means uphill access is dangerous with so much heavy machinery around. Right now, Copper expects to open for skinning and more by January. Travel is OK before 9 a.m. on weekdays or 8:30 a.m. on weekends and after 5 p.m. all week.

Before heading out, Copper requires all uphill travelers to get a free access pass and reflective armband. The passes are available at the lower ski patrol room, located next to the American Flyer lift (behind Jack’s), from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the winter season. All you need to do is fill out an access form and go over the rules.

Like Breck, Copper also has designated routes from East Village, Center Village and Union Creek, which takes travelers to the Janet’s Cabin hut. See the Copper Mountain website or drop by the patrol room for details on the routes.

A-BASIN

Basin is a hotbed for uphill travel, and by now, the ski area has it down to a science. Anyone who heads up must pick up a free pass from the tickets window during normal operating hours, withopenings and closing posted to the A-Basin website by 6 a.m. daily. Dogs are allowed, but be sure to bring poop bags.

The Basin is also the only local ski area to allow travel when lifts are spinning. Uphill access is restricted to the eastern edge of High Noon run (aka the White Strip of Death in November), found between the base area and Black Mountain Lodge. Access above Black Mountain Lodge is prohibited during operational hours.

Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.