A nearly $4 million project approved Thursday night by area elected officials will expand paved parking at the Brush Creek Intercept Lot by 200 spaces.

The popular park-and-ride lot at the intersection of Brush Creek Road and Highway 82 currently has 200 paved parking spaces, 200 more recycled asphalt spaces and between 900 and 1,400 unimproved spaces in a grass field to the north and west of the paved spots, according to a memo from Brian Pettet, Pitkin County’s public works director.

The 200 paved spaces were often full last winter with skier and commuter parking, according to Pettet’s memo and statements last spring by city of Aspen Parking Director Mitch Osur. The unimproved spaces often are used for special events staging and by people attending events like the Winter X Games, the Aspen Food & Wine Classic and the Labor Day concerts in Snowmass Village, Pettet’s memo states.

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Other improvements to be made at the Intercept Lot are the construction of bathroom facilities, which will require extending service utilities to the area, as well as relocating a carpool kiosk from the Aspen airport to the lot, according to Pettet’s memo. Additional landscaping also will be installed as part of the $3.9 million project.

The project will be paid for with a $1.9 million federal grant and a $2 million in matching funds from the Elected Officials Transportation Committee, which approved allocating the money for its 2018 budget on Thursday during a meeting in Snowmass Village. County staff plan to meet with federal administrators of that grant next month, Pettet said in the memo.

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The federal grant funds will not be available until October 2018, the memo states.

The Brush Creek lot is owned by the Colorado Department of Transportation, which purchased the 27.2-acre parcel specifically for parking during expansion of Highway 82, Pettet said.

The city of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority lease the property from CDOT, though Pettet and other officials think the agency might be talked into selling the property if it continues to be used for transportation, Pettet said Thursday.

Pitkin County Commissioner Steve Child said Thursday at the Elected Officials Transportation Committee meeting that he has a “vision” for the future of the Intercept Lot.

“I have a vision that it’s more like Town Park in Snomwass (Village), which is really nice,” Child said.

jauslander@aspentimes.com