Save Guanella Pass

Letter to the Editor of the Denver Post Jan 21st 2001

GUANELLA PASS PROPOSAL - Don't change the access

Re: "Guanella proposal runs into potholes," Dec. 7. I am
extremely concerned about the Federal Highway Administration
proposal for Guanella Pass.

My mother was born in Georgetown; her family always had
homes there and were part of the Georgetown community,
dating from 1868. Her grandmother owned the American
House, a hotel that rivaled the Hotel DeParis until it burned in
the 1890s. Her mother succeeded her father as Clear Creek
County treasurer in the 1920s.

Lloyd and Veronica Elliott resided in Georgetown until their
deaths in 1993 and 1994, and my family and I have been
consistent part-time residents. While I do not currently live in
Georgetown, it is only a matter of time until I return home. I do
still own a small bit of real estate there, as do other family
members.

My family is in total opposition to Alternative 6, the Guanella
Pass construction proposal.

Every resident of Colorado needs to know and be concerned
about the potential damage to our envi ronment and our
history.

Scrap this giant multi-year construction project that threatens
so much! Coloradans need the Federal Highway Commission to
rethink Alternative 6 and maintain the road in its current
footprint, limiting the project to rehabilitation and fixing the
drainage and erosion problems.

I believe there is a hidden agenda in providing an additional
highway to dump part of the excessive traffic that is currently
the bane of existence for residents living in the U.S. 285
corridor.

Solution: Divert part of the traffic at Grant and send it through
Georgetown to I-70.

The current Guanella Pass road provides recreation and access
to a historical part of the Front Range and nature that is
irreplaceable. To change the nature of that access in such an
extreme manner is irresponsible. To harm the lives and
livelihoods of current and future residents of Georgetown is
unforgivable.

ROBERT B. ELLIOTT Clifton