Thank you for showing your support for the Hermosa to Durango Bike Trail.  Your voice will be important in showing public support for the project.

Sorry for the delay in updating everyone on our progress but things have been changing so fast it was hard to put a bookend on progress.

THE GOOD NEWS:

On February 9th 2023, the Southwest Transportation Planning Region board added the Hermosa to Durango Bike Trail to the 2045 Long Range Plan.  This was our first goal.  Nothing can happen with a trail in CDOT right of way until it is in the system.  So now  the idea of a trail is in the system.  The next thing that happens is that annually the transportation folks rate items in the 2045 Long Range Plan and as things move up in the system they are eventually moved the CDOT 10 year plan, and then they start planning for funding and construction.  CDOT does not want to update their 10 year plan for another 4 years. 

The day after approval, we became aware of a new federal program know a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP).  It was generated out of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIL) and is a grant program that can provide design and construction money for this multimodal trail project.  The two caveats are there that there is a 20% local match and the grant request come from a local government.  We are in the process of asking the county to be the sponsor and raise the 20% match privately.  In other words, money is not in the County’s budget for the trail and would compete with other requests and therefore might not happen in a timely  manner.  A draft of the grant application is due March 24.

We are awaiting the County’s response  to being the  applicant for a TAP Grant, and if that happens we will begin to raise the match money privately.

Other great news is that we are in discussions with Durango Trails to partner in the planning and development of the trail.  We should know about the results of those discussion about March 15th.