Dam Road continues debates
Just days after the Denver Water Board abruptly closed the Dam Road between Dillon and Frisco, it got sued.
County commissioners, neighboring towns and the Lake Dillon Fire-Protection District sued jointly, saying the board improperly closed the Dam Road.
The locals want a judge to demand the board reopen the road. Lake Dillon Fire-Protection also issued a notice saying that placing barriers on the road violated international fire code, and, if barriers were not removed, the infraction would be turned over to the sheriff’s office. The board rearranged the barriers so fire trucks could get through, though personnel still has to get out of fire trucks to unlock the gate, causing delay.
Meanwhile, an emergency on July 11 caused personnel to complain even more about the road closure. When a woman cyclist injured her head, Lake Dillon Fire-Protection officials called the Denver Water Board’s security guard to unlock the gate blocking the Dillon side of the road. They got a voice message.
The Denver Water Board said that’s because the guard was responding to the same emergency call on the Frisco side of the Dam. Still, locals were not happy.
Since the closure, Denver Water has considered building an alternative route, which would come off of Stephen’s Way near the outlet stores in Silverthorne, run south of Interstate 70 and dump out on the Dam Road in Frisco.
Once again, Summit County officials were not involved in the discussion. And one of the main problems, besides how it will be maintained, is the fact that Home Depot proposed to build a new store on the land the new road would run through. The board claimed it didn’t mean to leave local officials out of the loop.
A new road is estimated to cost about $35 million, and no one seems to know where the money would come from.
Note: If the dam broke, water would flow behind Silverthorne car dealerships west of town.
