Maroon Creek Multi-Use Trail Aspen, Colorado

Aimed at adding a safe year-round route for the City of Aspen and its 22 miles of trails, the Maroon Creek Multi-Use Trail creates a clearly-defined connection through a heavily used and tightly constrained roadway. Extending to the Aspen Highlands Trail, Otak provided planning, conceptual design, and final construction documents for this path to complete a much needed connection between the city, Aspen Recreation Center, Aspen Highlands Ski Area, and iconic Maroon Bells Scenic Area.

Providing a Safe and Clear, Year-Round Connection for a Heavily Used Corridor

An amenity for locals and tourists alike, the world-renowned mountain destination of Aspen features a trail system that enhances active transportation across the area including Snowmass, Woody Creek, Basalt, and the greater Pitkin County. The Maroon Creek Multi-Use Trail connects the SH 82 roundabout with the Aspen Recreation Center and its busy transit station, where a previously poorly defined mixture of pathways created potential conflicts between vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists. With updates providing the ability to clear snow, the path is now available for use in all seasons. Careful consideration of impacts to adjacent properties included increased separation from the road as well as from the Aspen High and Aspen Middle School pathways, while the design also integrates with well-established Nordic trails in the area. Intersection safety improvement measures, drainage upgrades, realignment of an existing pedestrian bridge approach, and transit stop enhancements were also among the features of this multimodal project.