Durango to showcase five-year project pipeline at public event

Durango packed its capital pipeline with the projects most likely to change how hikers, runners, bikers and visitors move around town. SMART 160, Durango Mesa Park, Animas River Trail improvements, Camino Crossing, County Road 250/251, the Florida River Raw Water Supply Pipeline and Buckley Park Redevelopment all sat in the same conversation because each one can affect access, parking, bike routes or the way people get into and through the city’s recreation network.

The city’s Transportation, Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments presented the lineup at the Durango Public Library, then opened one-on-one table sessions so people could press for details. Durango also said interpretation, childcare and snacks were free, which likely helped draw a broader crowd than a standard government meeting. The bigger point was harder to miss: capital improvement projects were an emphasis in the 2026 budget, so this was not a stand-alone recreation update. It was a look at how the city plans to spend and sequence its biggest work over the next five years.

For trail users, SMART 160 was one of the most important items on the list. The name stands for Safe, Multi-modal, Aesthetic, Regional Trail, and the project is designed as a paved multi-use route linking the Animas River Trail in southern Durango to Three Springs. City materials say the final buildout will provide about 2.6 miles of trail, and the remaining segment has been split into four parts after studies looked at highway crossings, private property, other agency lands and terrain. The project also has outside money behind it, with Durango and the Colorado Department of Transportation awarded $1.7 million in FASTER statewide transit funding for design and construction.

Durango Mesa Park matters for a different reason. The city said the initial planning and infrastructure phase began in 2022 as a three-year effort to design and build an about 800-acre bike park on Ewing Mesa with the Durango Mesa Park Foundation. Six new demonstration trails totaling roughly seven miles were completed in September 2023, including downhill-only mountain bike lines and multi-use trails. That makes the park one of the city’s biggest future pressure points for trailheads, connections and nearby road access.

Camino Crossing was the clearest missing-link project on the board. Durango said it will be a below-grade underpass near 12th Street that connects the Animas River Trail and downtown Durango, which could reshape how people move between the river corridor and the city center without mixing with Camino del Rio traffic.

The rest of the list also carried real access implications. County Road 250/251 and the Florida River Raw Water Supply Pipeline can affect how crews stage work and how residents reach parks and trailheads, while Buckley Park Redevelopment could alter day-to-day use of one of Durango’s most familiar public spaces. The message from the city was plain: in Durango, trails, roads, water lines and parks now move together, and the next round of closures or detours will likely come from that system, not from any single project alone.