After a few years mulling over the idea, county and city officials say work to extend Seventh Street out to Road 27 could possibly begin later this year.
The project’s feasibility and future was discussed Tuesday night at a joint meeting between the Cortez City Council and Montezuma County Board of Commissioners. The extension will take some collaboration, since it would run through both county and city property.
“It gives an access out of there, and an egress out of there that doesn’t end up on Main Street,” said Commissioner Keenan Ertel at the meeting. “You’ve got different avenues to alleviate traffic.”
The proposed half-mile extension has been talked over since the new high school was finished in summer 2015 as a way to increase safe access to the school. It would extend out from the eastern edge of Seventh Street – after the road has turned into Sligo Street – to County Road 27.
The city’s portion of the extension runs along the south side of the high school property, while the rest is on county land. County commissioners would like to involve the Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1 in the project as well.
“I think it would really help with the buses,” said RE-1 transportation director Lena Galloway. “Getting out onto Main Street even. Keeping the traffic off of Main Street.”
The RE-1 bus garage is located along County Road 27. Galloway said the additional road could help buses avoid turning left from Hawkins Street onto Main Street, which is “quite difficult.”
The school board hasn’t yet discussed the item, according to board member Lance McDaniel, who was also present Tuesday night.
City Engineer Chad Hill said his biggest concern was to ensure the road was constructed with asphalt.
“It would be a total mess if it’s just gravel,” Hill said.
Along those lines, Mayor Karen Sheek raised the concern that having two separate standards for the road segments could create problems.
“Would you be willing to asphalt your section?” Sheek asked. “Would you be willing to have your section come up to the city standards?”
Commissioner Jim Candelaria said that speaking for himself, it made logical sense to asphalt the whole segment.
“Because then we have a hard surface from Sligo all the way to 27,” he said. “Twenty-seven is a hard surface right now.”
The commissioners said they were hoping to get work started this year, and asked if the city was on board.
“We’d like to get it roughed in this year if at all possible,” said Commissioner Larry Don Suckla.
Hill said he would want a geo-technical report first, and Sheek said the council would need a cost estimate.
“Council can’t vote on anything if we don’t have any idea of the cost,” she said.
City Manager John Dougherty said he could find out a cost estimate by the next council meeting on Aug. 13, and could then let the commissioners know the city’s response the following day.
The two governing bodies also discussed next steps on the county’s proposed events center, along with the possible locations for it. They especially homed in on the old Walmart building in Cortez Plaza.Although a feasibility study would evaluate a variety of sites, the old Walmart location could be beneficial because the building already has infrastructure, it is close to several motels, and there is more grant money available for repurposing old properties.
Sheek said she would touch base with city planner Tracie Hughes and Mark Drudge from the Cortez Retail Enhancement Association, who will represent the city on a committee to determine next steps.
Mayor Sheek brought forward the possibility of drop-off locations where people can bring raw material for composting.County administrator Shak Powers said people already can bring this material to the landfill. He added that in the near future, the county is planning to bring in a tire shredder for one week to allow residents from Montezuma and Dolores counties to dispose of old tires.
Sheek also brought up a possible collaboration between the city, county and Southwest Memorial Hospital for a safe needle disposal site.“Some of our refuse workers have been injured from people not properly disposing of their used syringes and needles,” she said.
Councilor Mike Lavey added that this is a danger for postal workers too, and that letter carriers can get stuck with needles thrown into mailboxes.
Powers said the landfill had seen a similar case recently as well, and suggested the county and city reach out to the Towaoc community as another possible partner in such a project.
ealvero@ the-journal.com
