Flood-prone trail in Gunbarrel to be fixed

A Gunbarrel trail that washes out nearly every year will get a permanent fix this spring. Boulder County Commissioners approved the realignment and resurfacing of the Cottontail Trail that runs north of Lookout Road at 75th Street and connects with the regional LoBo Trail to Highway 52.

The plan to fix the trail wasn't a hard sell. Commissioner Claire Levy said she wasn't sure it was even a real trail because of the damage she noticed when riding her bike on it. Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks spends $10,000 to $20,000 each time it needs to repair the trail, according to Jarret Rogers, Visitor Infrastructure Supervisor. He showed the commissioners photographs from several different years when heavy rains gouged into the trail and washed away the crusher fine surface.

The section between Lookout Road and the LoBo Trail will be realigned to the east. Work will include reducing the grade to 5% to meet federal accessibility standards. Some parts of the trail currently have a 10% grade.

The project will also include resurfacing where the trail follows the LoBo regional trail between Gunbarrel and Highway 52. That section of the trail will be closed during workdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are no easy detours, according to the staff recommendation packet. The section of trail directly north of Lookout Road will be closed the entire duration of the project with detours through the neighborhood to the west.

Work is expected to begin in April and take about 60 days. The impacted areas will be seeded with native plants between Oct. 15, 2021 and May 15, 2022.

CUTLINE: The Cottontail Trail, in yellow, will be realigned and resurfaced starting in April. There will be both permanent and work-day closures over the 60-day project.