Basecamp Silverton

This morning, June 9, I attended the San Juan County board of commissioners meeting at the courthouse. The main topic of discussion was closure of the Lackawanna Bridge. Read on for more.
State bridge inspectors have pronounced the Lackawanna Bridge "structurally defective", given it a rating of 15 out of 100, and closed it permanently to vehicular traffic. The bridge has had a long life starting out in Alamosa in 1919, moving to Howardsville in 1958 and finally relocating to the Animas River crossing below the Lackawanna Mill in the 1980's. There's no way to fix it. What will it cost to replace it? Somewhwere around half a million dollars is the latest estimate. It's possible to access the Lackawanna Road from the Arrastra Gulch side. What's going to happen? Hopefully, the county can find a replacement bridge. The other option is building a new road from just above the skating rink up the left side of Kendall Mountain ski area traversing Swansea Creek near the current trail and small bridge crossing and link up with Lackawanna Road in the parking lot just above the mill. I hope that doesn't happen. Most probably the old bridge will remain in place for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. On another topic, I have a limited number of "BB For CC" bumper stickers available for your vehicle. If you want one call me at 387-5116 or e-mail [email protected] Focus on the Future. Vote on November 2.