(The following story by LeRoy Standish appeared on The Daily Sentinel website on May 12.)
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The Union Pacific Railroad is huffing and puffing and threatening to block access to a road allowing the public to reach the Dominguez canyons area via the Bridgeport Bridge.
The 255-foot long, $847,000 bridge was built by the Bureau of Land Management and opened in spring 2006. The bridge spans the Gunnison River about eight miles southwest of Whitewater and provides recreation seekers access to Big and the Little Dominguez canyons and the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Study Area.
Pedestrians pass through a gate and cross the tracks to reach the bridge. But Union Pacific officials say that’s trespassing and are talking with the BLM to find a solution.
“Union Pacific and BLM are going to review, or need to review, any proposals for access to that area. What we will do together is review all the options and see if there are any alternatives before we can let the public cross the rail line,” said Mark Davis, spokesman for Union Pacific. “It is all a matter of safety and access on the railroad.”
He said that the tracks average about nine trains a day and that the rails, even without trains riding them, can be dangerous.
“The rail itself adds a tripping hazard. Sometimes people can’t help themselves, they will walk on the top of the rail” and this could lead to a fall, he said.
Hikers and horseback riders can still reach a trail that parallels the railroad tracks to the bridge, but that is frowned upon by Union Pacific.
“Any time you go on railroad property it could be considered trespassing,” Davis said.
The BLM is still in discussions with the railroad about access, said Mel Lloyd, BLM spokeswoman.
“Folks that need access currently have access,” she said.
But not everybody has access, said Matt Kuehlhorn, summer program director for the Adaptive Sports Center. Based in Crested Butte, the nonprofit organization provides year-round activities for people with disabilities and their families.
Last week, Kuehlhorn asked the BLM and Union Pacific for permission to drive a van to a Gunnison River access point near the bridge.
“Originally I was inquiring with the BLM (about) how I could gain access,” he said. “They informed me that Union Pacific was considering closing access totally.”
The railroad is still considering the center’s request, Davis said.
The railroad was consulted and raised no objection to the Bridgeport Bridge being built, Lloyd said.
“We went through contacting the railroad and our engineers worked with all the interested parties prior to going ahead with the bridge,” Lloyd said.
Resolution of the issue may rest on whether Mesa County or the railroad has right of way along Bridgeport Road, which goes over the tracks and down to the bridge.
The county decreased its maintenance just to the stretch of road to the tracks in the late 1980s when the old bridge, located about 100 yards downstream, fell into disrepair, said Pete Baier, director of Mesa County Public Works.
“We find nothing to say that we vacated any rights,” he said.
Just how strong the county’s rights are is “something we are working on,” Baier added.
Mesa County Commissioner Craig Meis said he has no doubt the BLM talked with Union Pacific about the bridge and access before investing nearly a million federal dollars into the structure. He said the county will push Union Pacific to keep the access open to the public.
“There is going to be a lot of heat over this as this thing develops,” Meis said. “It is something we take very seriously and it is something we have strong opposition to.”