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The roadwork you’ll know by name

Cathy TuttleSpecial to the Post Independent

It is estimated that over 29,000 cars a day travel over the Grand Avenue Bridge in Glenwood Springs. A “Grand” project will occur in 2004 that will have each and every driver putting a few minutes more thought into how they will get from here to there during a six- to 12-month concrete paving project.On Feb. 5 and 6 close to 100 people attended the Grand Avenue concrete paving construction public meeting. Something so “Grand,” that will impact so many, deserves a title that will by the mere mention describe this project. Listed below are 29 potential names that were submitted at CDOT’s public meetings.These are in alphabetical order: 1) Baby Grand, 2) Calle Grande, 3) Concrete Blonde, 4) Concrete Mile, 5) Cool Planet Paving, 6) E.P.I.C. for Eco Paving Improvement Challenge, 7) Easy Street, 8) Eco Project for Eco Challenge Opportunity, 9) G-82 for Grand (Avenue) (Highway) 82, 10) G.I. for Grand (Avenue) Improvement, 11) Gran-D-Tour, for The “D” placed in front or back reflects how you feel about it, 12) Grand Aggravation, 13) Grand Avenue Rehab, 14) Grand Ex for Grand Avenue Excellence, 15) Grand Glenwood, 16) Grand Grand, 17) Grand Idea, 18) Grand Scheme, 19) G-Rex, 20) G-Street Project, 21) GWS EPA for Glenwood Springs Excellent Paving Adventure, 22) P.I.G. for Pave it Grand, 23) PAVEX 2004 for Paving Excellence, 24) SH 82 Facelift, 25) The 82′ Minute Mile, 26) The Crawl of Fame, 27) The G.A.P.P. for The Grand Avenue Paving Project, 28) The Green Mile and 29) Grand Slam.Please send your top choice to try@ci.glenwood-springs.co.us by 12:00 on Tuesday, Feb. 18, and this information will be passed along to the Transportation/Tourism Task Force that afternoon at their 3:30 meeting.Project background”If you drive on Grand Avenue in Glenwood Springs, your world will change in 2004,” wrote Valerie Smith, Glenwood Post Independent publisher, in her Feb. 10 commentary.The 2004 Grand Avenue Construction paving project will occur in three stages from 8th Street to 23rd Street. CDOT is still seeking input into hours of operation, amount of lane closures at a given time, and time of year concerns from the various sectors. This information will assist in determining whether this project will take six, eight or 12 months to complete. For example: Fewer hours of operation may mean less impact on commuters and businesses but the amount of time (days) the project requires to finish will increase.In a proactive move the Transportation/Tourism Committee was created. It is a joint City/Chamber/DDA task force that has been meeting to determine solutions to the challenges that the Grand Avenue 2004 repaving project presents. “We have discovered that the repaving project affords opportunities to make cost-effective improvements and safety enhancements to Grand Avenue and the wing streets under the Grand Avenue bridge,” commented Marianne Virgili, Glenwood Chamber executive director. “It also affords us the opportunity to improve public transit and encourage ridership in a way that could have a permanent impact on our town. Our overall goal is to take cars off Grand Avenue and make Glenwood Springs a model mountain transportation community.”Valerie Smith also wrote, “It is not too late to do some homework on the Grand Avenue paving project and to offer feedback. First CDOT will provide updates on the SH82 Web site, which is http://www.SH82.com. Also, public meetings are tentatively scheduled to be held again in Glenwood in July or August.”Construction reportfor Glenwood SpringsGlenwood Springs Electric Department will be pulling fiber in the 800 block of the Grand-Colorado alley and 800 block of the Colorado-Pitkin alley. They also will be pulling fiber at Valley View Hospital-19th Street and 800 block of the Grand-Cooper alley.Transportation Responsibility & You, One Day at a time!Cathy Tuttle is with the consulting firm of Tuttle Marketing and is the RFTA/city of Glenwood Transportation Marketing Alliance manager/consultant. For additional information please call 384-6427 or e-mail to try@ci.glenwood-springs.co.us. This column will appear every Monday to explain how each person in our community can make a difference in our quality of life. Transportation Responsibility & You – one day at a time, one trip at a time.


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