Click the link to read the article on the Glenwood Springs Post Independent website (Taylor Cramer). Here’s an excerpt:
May 22, 2025
A long-awaited restoration project along the Roaring Fork River in Glenwood Springs is officially complete. City officials, project partners and community members gathered [May 21, 2025] to mark the opening of a newly rehabilitated stretch of parkland near the Atkinson Trail — a site once plagued by erosion, invasive plants and deteriorating irrigation infrastructure.
“This project shores up a resource that was starting to wash away,” Glenwood Springs City Manager Steve Boyd said. “It’s a very valuable little park. It’s been years in the making, but we’re super glad it’s finally finished.”
Planning for the project began in 2019, with input and support from the city’s River Commission and several environmental groups. Years of grant writing, design changes and budgeting followed before construction could begin. City Engineer Ryan Gordon said the goal was to preserve the riverfront area’s natural look while solving multiple safety and environmental problems…Behind the fence where officials gathered Wednesday, the Atkinson Ditch has been filled in and replanted. Once a half-full water channel that bred mosquitoes and collected trash, the ditch was also home to an old head gate with sharp metal remnants from deteriorated culverts…Further upstream, crews removed invasive Russian olive trees, stabilized approximately 700 linear feet of riverbank and reinforced eroding areas that had begun to threaten the trail. In doing so, they protected both the public recreation area and the surrounding habitat. Long Range Principal Planner and River Commission liaison Jim Hardcastle said the project addressed persistent seepage and standing water issues that turned the area into “a festering mosquito log.”