This week in Aspen History

“4-Lane Aspen Road Two Years Off,” announced the Aspen Illustrated News on May 22, 1969. “Any four laning of Colorado State Highway 82 west of Aspen from the city limits to just past Brush Creek Road will be at least two years in the future. This was learned at a public hearing held by the Colorado Department of Highways last Monday evening at the Pitkin County Court House. Dick Prosence of the highway department explained that its purpose was to hear local suggestions and comments on possible relocation of the six-mile strip of highway west of town. Two possible relocations from the present highway were suggested by the highway department and were marked on a large aerial photograph of the valley. One of these would bring the highway directly into Aspen along the extension of Main Street. Should the present route over Castle Creek at Hallam Street remain as the new route, it would necessitate construction of an additional two-lane bridge at Hallam. However, if the highway were to come straight in on Main, a new four-lane bridge would be built at that location leaving the Hallam Street bridge for local traffic. The other possible relocation of the right-of-way would be around the Pitkin County Airport. One suggestion is to put all four lanes of the road on the opposite side of the runway from the present route. Another is to split the highway around the airport leaving the present route for outgoing traffic and constructing a new two-lane facility east of the runway for incoming traffic. Prosence noted that no definite decisions had yet been made by the department on the routing but that these should be made within six months. Total cost of the six-mile improvement would be about four million dollars Prosence said.”