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Simmons: A four-lane highway is not the wildfire solution that’s been promised

Jack Simmons
Guest Commentary
Jack Simmons.
Courtesy photo

As a retired firefighter I’m very concerned that some members of our community have been led to believe that a four-lane highway across Marolt Open Space is the answer to our town’s wildland fire threat. Put simply, it is not.

I have served on the Aspen Fire Department for 30 years, I was a firefighter, captain and assistant chief. I also was president of the Aspen Fire District and served on the district board for more than 20 years.

Over the years, I have been involved in emergency response, emergency planning training and funding plans with my fellow firefighters and other public safety professionals. Not once have I seen a wildland fire evacuation plan that requires a four-lane lane highway across the Marolt Open Space.



Will we be safer with more lanes downvalley for an evacuation? “Possibly,” but only if you want to hang your hat on a one-directional solution that may in fact not be the way to safety.

With our strong summer westerly winds a wildfire may well be coming upvalley from the west. Then what? The so-called “solution” presented by supporters of the Straight Shot would force us to evacuate directly into the fire.




Another important point is that evacuation in cars and trucks isn’t necessarily the safest option during a wildfire. Numerous wildfires across the country in recent years have demonstrated this point.

With the wildfires burning now in Los Angeles County, people were seen abandoning their vehicles and evacuating on foot. Many left their cars in the middle or the road, making it harder for firefighters and other emergency responders to do their jobs under extremely dangerous circumstances.

In specific set of circumstances, a four-lane road across Marolt Open Space might help, but it is not the panacea proponents claim it is. Even with additional lanes, there are choke points that will make evacuation in our vehicles slower than people think.

It is clearly stated on the city of Aspen website that the Straight Shot will not significantly improve traffic congestion on a daily basis. How then can we expect it to significantly improve evacuation traffic?

Better options

If I genuinely believed as a firefighter that a highway through the open space is the solution to our town’s wild land fire safety, I would support it.

A new highway and bridge across Marolt Open Space will take at least 10 and maybe 15 years to fund, design and build. What does that do for us now? Or next year? Or the year after that?

There are better solutions for protecting Aspenites in the event of a fire, no matter which direction it comes from. Our community leaders have started that work and they should continue. Putting all our eggs in the Straight Shot basket is a waste of time and resources, and will create an unwarranted sense of safety.

There are important and realistic plans to create safe zones in Aspen, including our city parks and the parking garage. Defendable space, hardscape, open irrigated fields will be the safest options in a fire evacuation. These include Aspen green belt buffer zones like the golf courses and Marolt Open Space (which should be irrigated and hayed) and the North Star Preserve.

Let’s be smart about this as a community and begin by asking: At what cost, to what benefit, and by what means can we best secure our community in the event of a wildland fire?

Justifying the Straight Shot, aka the “Preferred Alternative,” across Marolt Open Space through scare tactics is a disservice to our community. It is an expensive and destructive one directional “solution” that is not a solution to our wildfire threat at all.

Pro-tip: Everyone should carry a small, working fire extinguisher in their cars and trucks.