Grabow: Invest in Safe Passages

One morning early this week, as I turned onto Highway 133 toward Carbondale, I watched a young buck weave through traffic. Minutes later, driving toward Aspen, I passed a freshly killed elk calf and a deer near Aspen Village, an abandoned SUV with a crushed front end nearby. On my return trip, I witnessed a large buck struck by a vehicle near Red Hill, left alive but paralyzed as cars swerved around him on the blind curve. In less than five hours, on a 20-mile stretch of road, I encountered seven dead or dying animals.

These collisions aren’t just traumatic for wildlife — they have real human costs. Families already stretched thin face lost wages, totaled vehicles, and medical bills from crashes that are entirely preventable. Many of the people most affected are those commuting long distances to serve our communities each day.

The next morning, I passed yet another vehicle with a smashed front end. I didn’t need to look for the animal — I knew what I’d find.

We can and must do better. I urge Pitkin County and our community to continue investing in Roaring Fork Safe Passages. Protecting wildlife on our roadways means protecting the people who live and work here as well as reducing the needless suffering we see far too often on our highways.

Meghan Grabow

Carbondale