WELD COUNTY, Colo. — Plans are underway for a new multi-use trail in southwestern Weld County that will connect Union Reservoir, Mead High School and St. Vrain State Park.
The trail will begin on Weld County Road 26 west of St. Vrain State Park, which is east of Longmont and south of Mead. It will then connect to the St. Vrain trail system to the east, according to Weld County. Preliminarily called the Weld County Road 26 Multipurpose Trail, the pathway will link people to the Weld Legacy Trail, which was completed in 2021 and sits behind the Southwest Services Center in Firestone.
This location was chosen because the involved parties saw a value in designing a trail in an area that will likely see future development, said Evan Pinkham, transportation planner for the Weld County Department of Public Works.
“Much of the area has not been developed and is still largely unincorporated at this time, and we have an opportunity to plan for a trail connection before more development occurs,” Pinkham said. “Our goal is to connect to existing and planned trails in the area, which will better serve residents in our partner communities and in unincorporated Weld County.”
Last week, the Weld County Board of Commissioners awarded the project to Otak, Inc. for an amount that would not exceed $1 million. Otak will be in charge of trail alignment and design.
Much of the funding for this trail, roughly $900,000, was awarded to the county through a Denver Regional Council of Governments grant. The remaining funding needed to fund this project will be split among Weld County, Mead, Longmont and Firestone, with each contributing $25,000, the county said.
Weld County will work with Otak to solidify construction plans within the next year, the county said. While that is underway, the project team is working to secure more grants to fund the construction.
As of Monday morning, there is no start date for construction of this trail.
Otak, Inc. has been involved in multiple other projects in Colorado, including:
- Completing Meadowlark Trail in Boulder County
- The Adams County Veterans Memorial at Mann-Nyholt Lake
- Enhancing Main Street in Lyons
- Creating an access management strategy for popular sites in Jefferson County Open Space parks
- Completing the Aspen Highlands Trail
- Redesigning West Pearl Street in Boulder
- Continuing work to improve the Rocky Mountain National Park Fall River entrance
