Coalition seeks consensus to ‘end the traffic jams’
John Bennett and George Newman
John Bennett and George Newman, Guest Commentary Feb 25, 2025
While the city of Aspen’s current ballot questions regarding the Entrance to Aspen are stirring up the usual fiery debate, they offer no actual solutions to our biggest problems. Nothing on the ballot would do anything to reduce traffic jams, lower greenhouse gas emissions or comprehensively address community wildfire danger.
It feels good to say: “We’re doing something.”
It’s far better to say, “We’re doing something and actually solving problems.”
New coalition to take action
Regardless of how the March city election turns out, our community deserves a credible, new initiative — led by a diverse group of thoughtful, respected community members — to analyze past traffic studies, review current and emerging mobility options, understand our true wildfire threat and achieve consensus on how best to address our challenges.
Put another way, we need a nonpartisan, broad coalition of citizens and community organizations who already agree on one thing: Meaningful action is necessary — now.
Working quickly with openness and transparency, the new coalition could comprehensively review upper valley transportation realities, identify the most effective solutions and improve the lives of thousands of people who travel Highway 82 each day.
Enough endless waiting
We cannot wait more years for action. This citizen review should begin immediately, conduct its work with a long-overdue sense of urgency and complete its recommendations in six months to a year.
After achieving consensus on the most effective transportation solutions, this community coalition could guide them toward public acceptance, the necessary approvals and implementation. It would work closely with elected officials of Aspen, Pitkin County and Snowmass Village — along with the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority and the Colorado Department of Transportation — on the entrance to Aspen, our new airport’s transit system and a transit plan for the Lumberyard housing project in order to integrate all three into a comprehensive new mobility system.
So far, over decades, no government has succeeded at this kind of comprehensive, cross-jurisdictional planning and implementation on its own. It’s time for a fresh, new, citizen-led approach to speed things up.
This kind of citizen-based planning can work extremely well. In 2023, the Pitkin County Growth Committee’s diverse group of citizens reached 100% consensus on a plan to revamp the county’s land-use code. Our county commissioners adopted the plan unanimously and are now implementing it. Among other things, its recommendations will dramatically cut future greenhouse gas emissions in our housing sector while also reducing future traffic growth on Highway 82.
In 2020, after 25 years of community infighting, the Airport Vision Committee began its work with widely divergent views, yet it eventually achieved consensus on a new airport plan that won unanimous support from our county commissioners and was recently approved by citizens in a county-wide election.
Six goals for the coalition
Dramatically reduce entrance to Aspen traffic jams
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25,000 tons/year
Identify solutions that work fairly for everyone, up and downvalley
Prioritize and incentivize public transit in all forms
Eliminate rush hour traffic on Smuggler Street and across the West End
Significantly reduce wildfire danger to the city of Aspen
Are the goals achievable?
Yes. Experts from some of America’s leading transportation engineering firms have confirmed the feasibility of reducing our traffic congestion. Wildfire experts know the ways to substantially reduce our community wildfire danger.
New mobility planning strategies exist to avoid adding yet more congestion to Highway 82 when approximately 700 new residents move into the roughly 300 new units at the Lumberyard housing project across from the airport — and exciting new transit innovations could move travelers seamlessly from our new airport to their destinations.
Solutions exist, as do the outside resources who can help us plan and integrate them. What we lack is a credible, trusted citizen group to take a comprehensive overview of the big picture of upper-valley mobility, along with wildfire issues. We can achieve consensus on how best to weave solutions together into an effective new system serving commuters, visitors and residents. We can develop solutions that improve our overall quality of life.
All this can be done.
Let’s end the traffic jams.
Let’s improve the lives of thousands of people in the Roaring Fork Valley.
The unnamed coalition that is looking to explore new alternatives for the entrance to Aspen is led by Chris Davenport, Alan Fletcher, Greg Goldfarb, Bill Kane, Michael Kinsley, Chris Lane, Cristal Logan, Johno McBride, Michael Miracle, George Newman, Dwayne Romero, John Sarpa, Auden Schendler, Harry Teague, Katie Viola, Bob Wade along with the authors of this commentary.