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Aspen needs another transit artery

To the project manager of the Castle Creek Bridge project as well as to the Colorado Department of Transportation supervisor of Highway 82:

My office is in Aspen on West Main Street. As a business owner, my main concern isn’t so much the inconvenience imposed by the project. My main concern is that the project highlights the need for a second major artery into and out of Aspen and that nothing is being done about it.

We need a second bridge. The Castle Creek Bridge should be just one thoroughfare into and out of Aspen. For most traffic it’s the only way in or out. Traffic shouldn’t be funneled through narrow S-curves and choked onto one crowded bridge traversing a steep-and-deep gorge. Times have changed, and times demand more change than this bridge by itself can offer us.



In my view, the Castle Creek bridge project trivializes the need for a safe and secure new major artery into and out of Aspen. Imagine for a moment if the Castle Creek bridge were closed due to some emergency and the closure were to last for an extended period of time. Or worse, imagine if a section of the bridge were to collapse in the heat of a summer drought, followed by a raging Colorado wildfire. In my view, the Castle Creek Bridge project is like renovating an old house before installing a fire escape. We need a second bridge.

John Hornblower




Aspen