We are very excited to announce that after much coordination, collaboration, and planning the re-build of the trails impacted by Holy Cross Energy’s maintenance project is finally beginning. You can read about the background of this project from our post back in May.
Over the summer, the VVMTA has had numerous site visits and meetings with Holy Cross Energy, Town of Avon, and the Singletree Community to come up with a plan and funding to restore the trails back to their original state. The common goal between all parties was to re-align the trails off of the road as much as possible. This would create a much better trail user experience as well as mitigate trail impacts when Holy Cross Energy needs to access the road in the future.
The VVMTA spent many hours in the field flagging proposed trail alignments off the road as much as possible. A majority of the new trail to be built by Momentum Trail Concepts will be off of the existing road but will still have to cross the road in many spots. This is due to steep/unsustainable grades, biological impacts, soils, and Harrington’s Penstemon.
The West Avon Preserve is owned by the Town of Avon but managed under a conservation easement held by the Eagle Valley Land Trust (EVLT). This means that our proposed trail alignments are submitted to the Town of Avon and reviewed by the EVLT and a third party biologist whom reviews the alignments and identifies any ecological effects that may occur.
Additionally, the overall trail re-alignment project cost is significant and was estimated around $55,000. Thankfully, the final costs to hire a professional trail builder have been funded by Holy Cross Energy, Town of Avon, and the Singletree community.
It’s finally starting to look like winter around here but Momentum Trail Concepts is going to do its best to complete all of these reroutes in November and before seasonal wildlife closures go in place on December 15th. If they are not able to finish due to weather, they will complete the project as soon as the trail system opens after April 15th. The VVMTA also plans to complete two of these reroutes in the Spring of 2021 with volunteer trail crews.
Thanks for everyone’s patience while we worked to get this project going and re-establish the incredible trail experience for all in the WAP!
