At the Monday, September 28 joint meeting between the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners and the Pagosa Springs Town Council, we heard about a couple of road closures and ‘partial closures’.
The meeting began with a report from Meredith Greene, public information manager for the Colorado Depatment of Transportation (CDOT) who has been keeping our local officials updated on the seemingly endless reconstruction of Highway 160 through the heart of downtown Pagosa Springs.
Construction progress has slowed somewhat, due to the seemingly endless rain during September.
We heard that the access to North and South 8th Street will be closed, once work is completed on South 7th Street. (North 7th is now open.)
We also heard that traffic will soon be ‘alternating one lane only’ at First Street while a major Town sewer project is underway there, with the partial closure running 24/7. A Council member suggested that some traffic might be diverted to Light Plant Road. Ms. Greene noted that CDOT doesn’t normally recommend detours through residential neighborhoods… but… well…
The more controversial closure discussion, however, took place at the conclusion of the joint meeting.
County Commissioner Warren Brown held up a mock-up of a warning sign that he wants posted at the entrance to Country Center Drive, at the North Pagosa Boulevard intersection.
The sign, he said, would warn the public that the entrance to Country Center Drive — the private drive that leads from North Pagosa Boulevard to City Market and numerous other businesses within that shopping center — would be temporarily closed “IN 30 DAYS” for emergency road repairs.
“The purpose is to protect motorists from property damage, and potential physical harm to them… ”
The entrance drive has been plagued by dangerous potholes and poor maintenance for several years, but because the road is privately owned, Commissioner Brown explained, neither the Town nor County government can make the necessary repairs.
The shopping center itself is within the town limits, but the North Pagosa Boulevard intersection is in Archuleta County’s jurisdiction.
Town Manager David Harris read a letter from Country Center businesses, stating that an agreement was being circulated, that would allow City Market to fix and maintain the western access road. The letter did not suggest a date when the road might be repaired.
Commissioner Brown then read a letter from a Country Center restaurant owner, making a plea to the County government not to close the access road, as such a closure would negatively impact businesses.
The letter stated, in part:
“I truly believe you will hear more complaints about the road being closed than you hear about the potholes. You will be punishing all the wrong people, while trying to get something done that has been harder than expected. I agree there should be some sort of agreement between all ten land owners to maintain the road properly. This should be an effort from both the Town and County Managers…”
Commissioner Brown noted that the problem had been discussed at previous joint Town-County meetings.
“We have been talking about this since the beginning of this year. How do we address this?
“I think [the restaurant owner’s] suggestion of the Town and County taking on the burden of fixing this, at least in my own perspective, is not going to happen. The road is on private property, and I think when the County decides to take a piece of private property and repairing it, we’re setting a bad precedent and also accepting an amount of liability for maintenance down the road. No pun intended.
“It’s very promising, to hear this information that David provided us from City Market. I applaud their willingness to get onboard. But we’ve heard this kind of talk before. And I will tell you frankly, I would like to see the County move forward with posting the [closure] sign that notifies the public, that in 30 days, that access will be shut off, until there is actual work and maintenance and potholes filled, with a semi-permanent substance — not just gravel.
“This is not meant as punishment of businesses… this is to make the business owners come to the table. We have put so much effort into this, to try and persuade, and talk, and plead, and beg, for this to get done — with zero response. In fact, this is the first real response that we’ve heard from any of the businesses in Country Centerm that they are seriously considering this. But it’s a long way from being done…”
Commissioner Brown held up a printout of a sample 24 inch by 24 inch sign.
“It reads, ‘PUBLIC NOTICE OF TEMPORARY ENTRANCE CLOSURE… THIS ACCESS ROAD WILL BE CLOSED IN 30 DAYS… LOCATION PROPERTY ACCESS NORTH PAGOSA BOULEVARD… PUBLIC SAFETY HAZARD MITIGATION…’
“I know that this is a big deal. But it’s a shame it hasn’t been a big deal for the businesses, and more particularly, the business owners and the folks who are responsible — the land owners… It’s been… I don’t know… I’ve been here 11 years and it’s been a problem that whole time…
“So that’s my two cents on the topic. Of course, this is going to have to be a decision by all three commissioners. At least two of the three will have to approve this. But I’m just so serious about getting this done…
“I don’t really want to do this. I don’t think we should have to do this. But here we are.”
Mayor Shari Pierce addressed Commissioner Brown:
“So you have not voted to do this already? You’ve just had a work session?”
Commissioner Brown:
“Yes, we had a work session and we gave staff direction to look into the signage and have this produced. But we have not voted to move forward with this, at a regular meeting… I’m going to ask that it be on our next agenda…”
Presumably, that would be the regular BOCC meeting scheduled for Tuesday October 6 at 1:30pm.