1 Mar 2014
Horse Gulch trail head is tight and narrow during construction, for safety, says Official
Any local that’s been to Horse Gulch trail head lately can tell you that the chain link security fencing has made the access narrow and slow-going for the large amount of foot and bike traffic going in and out of there.
Construction crews have prepared the perimeter of the cul-de-sac at Horse Gulch trail head for pouring some concrete.
With safety in mind, the fencing around the new cul-de-sac and offset from the hillside to the north keeps mountain bikers from going too fast out of the Gulch, while allowing ample room for heavy equipment and construction crews to work behind the recently paved parking lot of the Pediatric Partners’ new Horse Gulch Health Campus, according to Durango’s Assistant Director of Community Development Kevin Hall.
Controlling the speed of mountain bikers coming out of Horse Gulch is crucial, as currently there’s a lot of vehicle and foot traffic in the street associated with construction going on at the new Horse Gulch Health Campus.
“The current narrowness of that corridor, while likely visually difficult to accept for those who have known it to be a wide open thoroughfare, is actually helpful in controlling the speed of bicyclists passing through it,” said Hall.
Security fencing at Horse Gulch trail head restricts people to a slower speed, for safety reasons, as there is a lot of construction-related traffic on the road below.
If emergency responders need to get into Horse Gulch, the security fencing can easily be moved aside to give them access with their vehicles, said Hall.
While some of the fencing is on the City’s recently acquired trail head property, Pediatric Partners needed the space to work and got a permit to work in there as part of the deal, Hall said.
Hall said that the fence should be pulled back after crews finish pouring some concrete in the vicinity.
After Pediatric Partners finishes working on their property, people will be faced with a similar dynamic while crews work on the City’s Horse Gulch trail head parking lot, which will be up for bid this weekend, said Hall.
