VAIL, Colo. (AP) - Building a long-desired underpass between Vail’s frontage roads is the biggest public works project the town has seen in a long time, so officials are taking a long, hard look at just where to put it.
The underpass is going to require a lot of excavation, lowering the North Frontage Road by 15 feet in places in addition to digging under Interstate 70.
Perhaps the trickiest part, though, is exactly where to put the underpass and, probably, a roundabout for each frontage road.
The north side roundabout is the biggest question. The Vail Town Council recently agreed to go forward with designing the underpass’ north side. After hearing complaints about that location from residents at a couple of earlier meetings, council members went on a tour of the area.
There, town engineer Tom Kassmel gave council members and condo owners at least some idea of where the retaining walls for the roundabouts might go. The stakes indicating the edge of the project are 50 feet or so from some condos. Some trees will have to be removed and the bike path in front of some condominiums will have to be relocated.
Kassmel said that Colorado Department of Transportation studies indicate that roundabouts are safer for all kinds of traffic, including vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. There are also questions whether a “T’’ intersection is capable of handling traffic loads 20 years into the future.
The stakes town employees laid out for the site visit were in places only a few feet apart, but resident Charlie Calcaterra said, “A few feet can make a big difference.”
Saving a few feet still has council members asking for a closer look at whether a “T’’ intersection, similar to one just east of the Vail Village parking structure, which they believe could work along the frontage road, the Vail Daily reports (https://tinyurl.com/oohw2l4).
Council member Margaret Rogers noted the North Frontage Road carries much less traffic than the south side, so a cheaper model might work there.
But fellow council member Ludwig Kurz cautioned council members and residents that what might work now might not work in the next 20 or 30 years.
It all boils down to the traffic studies that will be part of the planning for the underpass.
Council member Jenn Bruno said if traffic projections don’t support a conventional intersection, then the town should look into cutting the north side roundabout from two lanes to just one. That would save a few feet, she said, but she echoed Calcaterra’s belief that a few feet can make a big difference in the project’s effects on property owners.
Calcaterra told council members that he appreciates the work they have put into the project, but he still has reservations.
“What we’re really looking for is for you to put this underpass someplace else, but that’s probably not going to happen,” he said.
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