Spanish Valley pathway nears construction as right-of-way acquisition begins

More than 90% of Grand County’s roughly 10,000 residents live in Spanish Valley, including Moab, which is why the long-promised pathway along Spanish Valley Drive now matters far beyond a bike lane. The county said design work is largely complete and right-of-way acquisition is underway on the Spanish Valley Multi-Use Pathway, a project tentatively on track for 2027.

Grand County Active Transportation and Trails Director Maddie Logowitz and county engineer Sean Yeates gave the update during the April 7 Grand County Commission meeting. The route has been on the books for years. In June 2022, commissioners unanimously approved preconstruction and design work for a 10-foot-wide pathway on the west side of Spanish Valley Drive, with two lanes separated from the road by a 5-foot buffer. The original design contract with Jones & DeMille Engineering was capped at $211,000.

The point of the corridor is simple: give people a safe way to move between the affordable housing areas in northern Spanish Valley and downtown Moab without having to mix with fast traffic on US-191. Utah Department of Transportation’s program briefing says the shared-use path is intended to reduce commuter traffic, improve quality of life for residents and improve recreational opportunities for visitors. The briefing lists $2.7 million in funding and, in its January 10, 2024 update, still placed the project in concept and design.

The safety case is getting sharper, not weaker. A March 2023 update said the route was still envisioned to pass Arroyo Crossing, where hundreds of housing units were planned, and county officials were also weighing whether to bundle stormwater mitigation with the path after storms caused flooding and property damage along Spanish Valley Drive. That stormwater work was preliminarily estimated at up to $859,000, and it could not be covered by hotspot funding, which means the county still needs another funding source if it wants to solve both problems at once.

The pathway also fits into a bigger regional push to make Moab and Spanish Valley less car-dependent. The Moab & Spanish Valley Regional Transportation Plan is being shaped by UDOT, Grand County, San Juan County, the City of Moab and the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, with safety, connectivity and mobility options at the center. Moab’s SS4A safety plan also flags Spanish Valley Drive, from Mill Creek Drive to the county border, as one of three critical corridors under study.

For trail users, commuters and visitors trying to move through a busy adventure town without a car, that is the real story here. Grand County already maintains more than 150 miles of non-motorized singletrack trails, but Spanish Valley Drive is the missing link that could turn a high-traffic roadway into a usable corridor for everyday travel and trip-day access.