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Worst laid plans in Glenwood Springs

The time has come for the citizens of Glenwood Springs to be very critical of the municipal planning department’s professional skill sets.

As we the people of Glenwood Springs know, there are two high-density apartment projects seeking City Council approval, and both are overwhelming in extreme traffic congestion, impacting an already inadequate local traffic grid. One is located just north of Wal-Mart on Blake Street. The second is located in West Glenwood north and adjacent to the West Glenwood Mall.

That said, I posit the utter professional incompetence of the Glenwood Springs Planning Department is easily seen by observing the high-density, four-story Lofts at Red Mountain adjacent to the Glenwood Meadows Mall, where Lowes and Target are located. The south parking lot/driveway (where fire/emergency vehicles must access) in the Lofts is narrow and long. Located in the emergency vehicle access driveway, there are garages, but the tenants use the garage as storage and instead park their pickups and cars in front of their garages, thereby partially blocking the emergency vehicles access/ingress.



This will become deadly when a fire occurs at the Lofts and the tenants are attempting to flee in their trucks and cars, while the Glenwood Springs Fire Department attempts to bring emergency equipment and the driveway is blocked by Lofts tenants who parked their trucks in front of their garages. Furthermore, the public street parking on Wolfsohn (real estate that is publicly owned) has been commandeered by the Lofts tenants as permanent parking. Why should the Lofts developer get free parking, paid for by our tax-dollars?

Head up Glenwood Springs, the same will occur at the high-density apartment planned near Wal-Mart and the West Glenwood high-density apartment project. All because of the professional incompetence of the Glenwood Springs Planning Department.




Carl McWilliams

Glenwood Springs