Aspen bridge in too dangerous a state

Another OMG, are you kidding me, moment. The Aspen Times recently reported an engineer working on the prior Castle Creek Bridge repair was afraid to put too much asphalt down due to worries that could cause the bridge to collapse. But the amount of asphalt that was put down before was just not sufficient, so now the city is now proceeding to put down more asphalt for drainage purposes.

The city engineer “believes” the additional amount of asphalt will be OK. Granted the article indicates the prior engineer might have been a little overly conservative. But, conservative or not, this is a wake-up call that we need to have another bridge over Castle Creek. An additional bridge is needed to alleviate the present unacceptable traffic congestion, but is also necessary due to the age and condition of the existing bridge. Having only one very old two-lane bridge providing access into and out of Aspen is simply unacceptable and dangerous.

Eric Simon

Snowmass Village