DURANGO, Colo. – Last Monday, the City of Durango closed off a popular Animas River Trail while improvements to the widely used trail are underway.

“A lot of the trail was developed in Durango probably 30, 35, even 40 years ago, and so the asphalt had just started to deteriorate. It was in bad shape, very bumpy. It was narrower,” said Scott McClain, an assistant parks director with Parks and Recreation.

KOB 4 took a trip up to Durango to see what part of this trail is closed, when it’ll open, and what people need to know if it’s part of their everyday commute.

“It’s about nine miles total in length, and it runs kind of from the north city limit to the south. Follows the river. It links together a number of our parks. It provides both for recreation. A lot of people use it just to get out and take a walk or a run or a bike ride, and then also, people use it as a way to commute or get to work and school,” said McClain. 

Folks taking the Animas River Trail in Durango are having to take a detour for the next eight months as the city gives part of this popular trail a facelift. 

“We understand that this impacts the community and people that come to visit Durango, we have set up a detour that reroutes folks kind of through the southern section of downtown. It’s about a quarter mile longer. So if you’re out for a walk or ride, it’s, you know, an extra five minutes that you get to enjoy being outside, some extra steps,” McClain said.  

Because of the bumpy, narrow, and deteriorating asphalt, the goal is to replace parts of the trail as funds are available.

“The new trail will be a 10-foot wide width and will be concrete. We’ve had some drainage issues coming off the highway that ice up during the winter time, so we’re going to address that during the construction process as well, and then add trail lighting,” said McClain. 

This is all part of the City of Durango’s 2020 recreation master plan after hearing from the community.

“Part of that, we did a survey the community, the Animus River Trail, trails in general, were identified by the community as one of the top priorities as far as recreation facilities,” said McClain. 

McClain says patients is appreciated during this time.

“It’s always a challenge construction and scheduling projects that are outside when people are using them, that obviously, spring, summer, fall are the best times for contractors to get the work done, or we’re not fighting weather,” said McClain. 

They expect to reopen the trail in October.