Letter: Glenwood bridge should go to a vote

We are addressing this letter to the newspapers in Glenwood Springs, Rifle, Carbondale, Aspen, Vail and Grand Junction because we think it is time to call upon all of the governments, both county and municipal, up and down the Crystal, Roaring Fork and Colorado river valleys to weigh in on the question of a state Highway 82 bypass around Glenwood Springs.

Valleywide transportation routes should be discussed and decided upon by regional consensus. The routing of a state highway through or around any municipality should never be determined uniquely by that municipality. We believe that over the past 60 years, the continued routing of Highway 82 along Grand Avenue has not been successful.

We believe that the time has come to put the question of a bypass to a vote of all the people who live here. We ask that the residents of Garfield, Eagle, Pitkin and Gunnison counties be given the opportunity to vote on the question. And we ask that further work on the design of the proposed new bridge be halted until such time as we have been able to vote on whether there should be a state Highway 82 bypass.

Ernie and Carol Gianinetti, Gregory Durrett, Dean Moffatt, Melanie Cardiff, Jerry and Judy Gerbaz, Skip Bell, John Foulkrod, Bradford and Patsy Nicholson, and Mark Chain

Roaring Fork Valley