YOUR AD HERE »

O’Doherty: Basalt streetscape conveys pioneer progress

Damian O'Doherty
Snowmass Village resident
Damian O'Doherty.
Courtesy photo

Mops and Peepaw come to the valley every summer, staying just far enough from the grandkids to avoid the Aspen Lacrosse Club over-the-pass tourney commutes to Denver but close enough to join family for the village’s Thursday Free Concert Series or a hike on the Tom Blake Trail with the kids. These two ageless lovebirds fly like gonzo bikers on the Rio Grande Trail, enjoy 25%-off local Mondays at Tempranillo with their favorite third wheel, Lance the bartender, and nap in their ADU, overlooking a town on the verge of transformation.

Basalt — a community forged at the junction of two railroad towns (Basalt Junction and Aspen Junction) and two rivers (the Fryingpan and the Roaring Fork) — is now socking away orange traffic signs, reflective road markers, and oversized cones, showcasing its infrastructure progress as the most walkable (and multi-modal) town on Colorado’s Western Slope.

As with much land use in the valley, the Basalt infrastructure project got the green light from a local referendum, with 71% of the electorate approving it in 2021. These debates often pit infrastructure and housing advocates against slow-change activists, each with passion and deep knowledge of their community that transcends shorthand acronyms like YIMBY and NIMBY. These fiery debates tend to leave all sides weary. Local government and news organizations play a crucial role in the healing process, effecting common ground content as essential as the discussions that sparked the controversy.



After walking the streetscape from The Brick Pony Pub to the Basalt River Park music shell, even the staunchest opponents might admit their objections made the project more vigorous, meaningful, and human. Sometimes, the value of objection isn’t in defeating your opponents but in overseeing them.

The project’s second phase faced resistance over the loss of parking on Midland Avenue and concerns over costs. Some residents even threatened a second referendum to scale back the project, citing parking pressures and budgetary concerns. These objections led to refined engineering solutions — such as using asphalt instead of concrete and opting for brick pavers over concrete pavers — all while trimming $4.7 million from the overall costs to appease the town’s budget hawks, according to The Aspen Times.




But the real treasure of the Basalt infrastructure project lies underground. Water lines, sewer systems, stormwater management, and electric and communication lines were all upgraded below while the streetscape above took center stage. These improvements — ones that many big cities are failing to initiate, even in an infrastructure boom — are a rare triumph of guts over glitz.

The streetscape is a pure winner — no doubt. It stitches together a previously disjointed community with connections the town’s railroad-era builders could never have imagined. The town feels renewed, like a vintage boxing glove brought back to life with fresh laces from Coach Gallagher at Lace Up Boxing. Locals know that Heirlooms is the town’s heartbeat, and the new streetscape spills into this consignment Americana like the yellow brick road leading to Oz. Where people once darted through fragmented pathways to key spots like the Roaring Fork Conservancy and Basalt Regional Library, they now stroll or bike along thoughtfully integrated routes, the result of deep community engagement.

Side streets like Lucksinger Lane now feel open and welcoming — almost like intimate music venues ready for buskers and the screeching shoes of AVSC kids running down from Homestead Avenue. Once quiet and unused alcoves are now alive with Adirondack chairs, while busy corners have been slowed with curves and new seating. It will be interesting to see how longtime locals and Texas tourists alike make use of these new public spaces — from Frying Pan Anglers to Free Range Kitchen.

The streetscape gave us options when our favorite local blueberry pork chop was off the menu behind Café Bernard’s off-season closure sign. Basalt’s red brick pedestrian streetscape delivered us seamlessly across town to Ryno’s Bar and Pub. Ryno’s — once Aspen’s reliable family hangout — proved that some things never change, especially for a dad who serendipitously brought cash for the arcade amusements. Ryno’s was wide open, with patio doors, outdoor Connect Four, and the smell of my hand-made gluten-free pizza in the air. The gleam of new, tidy tables full of identifiable kid-menu classics is a welcome change from convincing kids that Aspen’s sumptuous Casa Tua was a “family restaurant” — just not for our public school district family. There may be no skee-ball yet at Ryno’s in Basalt, but grilled cheese and tomato soup still hit the spot. Alongside the epic Mexican at Jalisco Grill, Ryno’s is bringing back life to the family-friendly block, even if it’s 21 miles downhill from Aspen.

If you haven’t visited Basalt in the past month, you might be missing the unfurling of one of the finest multi-modal streetscapes in the American West. Like the changing leaves in the valley, you want to catch Basalt’s infrastructure at its peak — when it shifts from hazard orange to street-scaped red brick. The color change is the perfect moment to remind us upvalley families of all the hard work it takes to keep a mountain town together. For those contemplating modernization at Pitkin County’s airport or workforce housing at Snowmass’ Draw site, Basalt proves that real pioneering progress unlocks the value of both winning infrastructure proponents and the dogged oversight of nay-saying opponents.

Damian O’Doherty is a Snowmass Village resident and an eight-year resident of the Roaring Fork Valley.