Plans for Smuggler underway
The city of Aspen, U.S. Forest Service and Aspen Center for Environmental Studies are hosting an open house on Wednesday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Rio Grande meeting room to discuss the long-term master plan for the Smuggler Mountain Open Space.   
 
The Hunter Creek-Smuggler Mountain Cooperative Plan is focused on approximately 4,000 acres of Forest Service land adjacent to the open space, which includes parts of Smuggler Mountain and the Hunter Creek Valley. This area is heavily used for recreation, and includes wildlife habitat and scenic value to the town. These factors, coupled with this area’s location in Aspen’s wildland/urban interface and involvement with multiple jurisdictions, necessitated the creation of a long-term plan, according to government officials.
 
The plan has undergone an 18-month visioning and planning process, including extensive public input and is now in the final stages of conceptual approval. 
 
Representatives from the agencies involved will be available to discuss the plan, and address questions and comments.

Bridge open house on Wed.
The Colorado Department of Transportation and consultant Jacobs Engineering on Wednesday are hosting a public open house and presentation on the current status of the Highway 82 Grand Avenue Bridge Environmental Assessment (EA) project.
 
The project team anticipates identifying bridge types for the EA, which is planned for agency review this spring. The EA will define the purpose and need for the project; describe the range of reasonable improvement alternatives; evaluate the social, economic, historical and environmental impacts of the improvements; define measures to avoid, minimize or mitigate negative impacts of the project; and solicit public involvement and obtain public input for the decision-making process.
  
Questions or concerns about the project can be directed to Joe Elsen, CDOT program engineer, at joseph.elsen@state.co.us [1]. Project information, including a traffic simulation and video simulation on the identified signalized intersection at 6th and Laurel, is available at http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/sh82grandavenuebridge [2].
 
The open house will take place from 5-7:30 p.m. at the Glenwood Springs Community Center, located at 100 Wulfsohn Rd.