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Bringing Monument Road Vision to Life

by KREX News Room
by Cori Coffin

Story Created: Feb 26, 2013 at 11:44 PM MDT

Story Updated: Feb 27, 2013 at 6:46 AM MDT

MESA COUNTY, Colo. - Building a vision for Monument Road. That's what Mesa Land Trust officials want the public's help doing.

"We want to connect that to the neighborhoods, schools and businesses so that residents can better enjoy and access some of these amenities," said Rob Bleiberg, executive director for Mesa Land Trust.

More specifically, the trust would like to build an off-road bike path from downtown Grand Junction to the Colorado National Monument, along Monument Road.

"People opened up their checkbooks and they said, 'This is important,'" said Bleiberg.

The success of the Three Sisters project prompted land officials to take a closer look at utilizing more of the Western Slope's assets.

"This is going to set Mesa County and Grand Junction apart as a unique community that folks want to live in. [It's] somewhere folks want to relocate their businesses to and folks want to travel to. We think that this really helps to strengthen and diversify our economy. It's really a win-win for the community," Bleiberg added.

The effort also involves the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Mesa County, the city of Grand Junction and volunteer citizens.

Officials say this project is an inspiration for even more development along Monument Road in the future. The trust is inviting residents to give their opinion on what that development might look like.

One concern that was raised at Tuesday's meeting is safety.

"There are a number of places on Monument Road that aren't safe to cross ... With kids and bikes and dogs, you've got to cross Monument Road with a 58 mile per hour speed limit," said Libby Collins, project coordinator for the Mesa Land Trust.

Officials say these concerns will be addressed and a specific plan laid out by the end of summer. They hope to begin construction as soon as possible thereafter.

Costs for the project have not yet been identified.

To join the discussion, visit www.MonumentRoadVision.com .

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Lois Yiaski said on Wednesday, Feb 27 at 4:19 PM

Miffie Blosvich, take charge & best of luck!!!

Katie said on Thursday, Feb 28 at 6:37 AM

Another reason to start charging bicycles an annual registration fee. The money could be used on things like that.

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