Southwest Coloradans are showing themselves to have ties to those in the communities in northern Colorado who are suffering from the extraordinary destruction that accompanied recent heavy rains. Relatives, friends, college classmates and businesses associates are linking this corner of the state to the goings-on in Boulder, Larimer and Weld counties, where unusual amounts of rain in the mountains and foothills flowed across already saturated low-lying lands from the mouths of canyons eastward to the flat agricultural lands along the South Platte River.
For those without those personal relationships, the continuing rain in this corner of the state through last weekend provides a worrisome link: Could the same thing happen here?
Water flowed first through Estes Park, Lyons and Jamestown, then through lower elevations in Loveland, Longmont and Boulder and on to towns south of Greeley.
Only the most general estimates of the amount of damage to roadways, bridges, residential, commercial buildings and irrigation systems are available so far, but a number as high as $2 billion is being suggested.
The Colorado Department of Transportation’s $100 million emergency fund will most likely be exceeded several times in the reconstruction of roads and bridges, and Gov. John Hickenlooper has made it clear that he expects the state to contribute heavily. There will be federal grants and low interest loans for all levels of work, while at the same time early indications are that few homeowners had flood insurance. And for those who did, the insurance proceeds may fall short of what is actually required.
With limited time before snow and ice hampers work close to the foothills, the race is on to put the two-lane highways that connect those communities and tie them to Loveland, Longmont and Boulder back in working order. Photos show that in some locations sections of roadways will have to be completely reconstructed, with entirely new bridges.
While haste is important, not only to open highways but to put residents back into their homes and for businesses to reopen, we expect there will be opportunities to make that wide and diverse swath of northern Colorado even more livable than it has been. Improved traffic flow with even heavier construction standards has the greatest promise, of course, but where low-income housing was inundated, such in a trailer park south of Greeley, rebuilding could include something more substantial on higher ground. Water and sewer systems, now out of order or severely damaged, could be resized, as well.
So, too, might there be opportunities for reconstructed and new road widths and intersections to provide for eventual new residential and commercial projects.
No one would wish the destruction and loss of life that has occurred in those counties to make infrastructure improvements possible, but with good judgment, that is just what can occur. Southwest Coloradans, who have ties to so many of those residents, will be following with interest.
