Glenwood Springs City Council voted 5-2 on Thursday to move forward with the long-planned South Bridge project without a toll inside the federally defined project area — reversing a Sept. 4 decision to include one. The change was made with the goal of preserving federal funding and keeping the project on track for bidding in early 2026.

Mayor Marco Dehm, Mayor Pro Tem Erin Zalinski and Councilors David Townsley, Mitchell Weimer and Sumner Shacter voted to remove the toll. Councilors Ray Schmahl and Steven Smith opposed the motion.

City Engineer Ryan Gordon told council that because the city’s federal grant application never included tolling, adding one now would be considered “a fairly significant change” by the Federal Highway Administration. Such a change, he said, would require revising the grant application, resubmitting it to the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., and conducting a full Environmental Assessment update and public process — all of which could push the project well past the September 2026 obligation deadline.

“We are federally mandated to have our project obligated … out to bid 11 months from now,” Gordon said. “If we look at several months for the revision of the application and possibly a year for the reevaluation, we’ve exceeded the time.” He added that federal staff made it clear extensions require congressional action — an unlikely scenario — meaning the project would risk losing its $49 million grant if the city delayed.

Under the no-toll path, Gordon said the project can stay on schedule, with the goal of advertising for bids in January or February.

Thursday’s decision reverses council’s Sept. 4 vote to include tolling as a way to deter cut-through commuter traffic and preserve the bridge’s intended purpose as an emergency route. That earlier 4-3 vote followed months of public debate and federal uncertainty about whether the tolling change could jeopardize the grant. After further discussions with the Colorado Department of Transportation and the FHWA, Gordon said staff confirmed that pursuing a toll now would effectively restart the approval process.

“In order to move forward with a tolled option, the FHWA would want us to go through a fairly lengthy review and Environmental Assessment update,” he told council. “The reevaluation for our current design — the non-tolled option — took about a year, so we would expect about the same duration for the tolled option.”

With tolling off the table for now, Gordon said the city is focusing on design features to slow drivers and reduce neighborhood impacts once South Bridge opens, he said.

Among the proposed measures are three-way stop-controlled intersections at key junctions such as Airport Road and Clark Street; a 25-mph design curve near the airport approach to force moderate speeds; a raised pedestrian crossing with rapid-flashing beacons similar to those at Sopris Elementary and on Midland Avenue; a roundabout near Cardiff Glen; and a 25-mph speed limit throughout the corridor, with possible speed-camera enforcement.

“We’re not going to simply build this and walk away,” Gordon said. The city will monitor traffic after opening and add further measures — such as humps, dips or other deterrents — if needed.

Council members pressed Gordon on whether federal officials oppose tolling in principle. He said FHWA did not tell the city it “shall not” toll, only that doing so would require extensive analysis and a new approval process that someone in Washington, D.C., would ultimately decide.

Gordon also clarified that while the federally funded project area cannot be tolled without reopening the grant, Glenwood Springs — as a home-rule municipality — could later explore tolling outside the project area on local streets without CDOT approval. “It’s something that we’ve looked at and … we’re certainly willing to consider as we move forward here,” he said.

Council discussion reflected the community’s two primary concerns: ensuring wildfire evacuation safety while protecting existing neighborhoods from increased traffic. Mayor Pro Tem Zalinski, who made the motion to proceed without a toll, said delaying the project now would be fiscally irresponsible.

“We have a responsibility to the community to use this grant money and at least take it to bid,” Zalinski said. “Anything that puts that potential at risk is doing this a disservice.”

Smith, who voted no, argued that the city should have paired the no-toll vote with a simultaneous commitment to implement neighborhood protections, saying residents want both safety and quality-of-life assurances. Schmahl also voted no, saying a toll would ensure long-term self-funding and prevent the bridge from becoming a commuter bypass.

Other members said the city could address traffic management later without risking the grant. 

“To me, it’s fairly simple,” Shacter said. “Do we take the most likely path forward to be able to make future decisions, including calming, including tolling elsewhere … or do we stop this project?”

City staff will continue with final design and permitting under the non-tolled plan, aiming to advertise for bids in early 2026 and obligate funds by the federal deadline that September. Gordon said the city will revisit neighborhood traffic mitigation strategies as the project moves closer to construction.

“We’re obviously monitoring this very closely,” he said. “If we need to do more traffic mitigation, great — we’ll do it.”