Dam Road closed permanently?
On Tuesday, July 8, drivers had a rude awakening: The Dillon Dam Road, which connects Dillon to Frisco, was closed, not just for construction or a rockslide, but for good.
Denver Water officials closed the Dam Road “indefinitely,†without even warning local officials. Emergency services often use the road and only had a matter of hours to  figure out other options to travel quickly between Dillon and Frisco. Needless to say, at least one Summit County official had some choice words that aren’t suitable for print.
The Summit Daily reported that Denver water commissioner Penfield Tate said the water board wasn’t aware of an imminent threat, but that over the past several months,  concerns have grown about the vulnerability of the dam. The Denver Water board has the authority to stop traffic on the road during an emergency, but the board won’t clarify what the emergency is.
The dam supplies about one-quarter of Denver’s drinking water supply. In the last seven years, the board has built fences and barriers and has installed video surveillance
and a 24-hour security guard for security, but it felt it had to do more. Members think building a new road that doesn’t cross over the dam while connecting the two sides of the reservoir is the best bet, and they’ve hired an engineering firm to consider alternatives.
The Dam Road is one of only three east-west roads in Summit County, and about 8,500 vehicles drive over the road every day.
Since Tuesday, public outcry has grown. People protested near the dam on Wednesday, and the Summit Daily received about 150 online posts within 24 hours, mostly opposing the closure. Even officials are looking into legal options to keep the road open. Many see it as the Denver Water Board stomping on Summit County, and everyone seems to be upset about the lack of information the Denver Water Board is giving as to why it’s closing the road.
Meanwhile, as I sit here writing this, I am deeply saddened, for a number of reasons. Probably on a most visceral level, I am upset that Summit County is threatened.
Second, I’m dismayed that the Denver Water Board didn’t work with our local officials. While they considered some aspects of safety in Summit County, they did not consider our everyday aspects of safety, such as fire trucks being able to quickly access Dillon and Frisco. By not informing or working with local officials, they acted as Big Brother, which is a total slap in every Summit County face.
It reminds me of a few years back, when the reservoir got very, very low due to a drought. While Summit County locals worried about property values around the lake, as well as the effect on recreational opportunities and tourism, the water board showed no concern, telling us that they have no responsibility to maintain the reservoir at a recreational level; it is only there to serve the needs of Denver drinking supplies. This, after they displaced the entire town of Dillon in the 1960s to have their way.
The third main reason I am grieving over the closing of the Dam is for the aesthetic loss. I know longtime locals who go out of their way to drive over the Dam Road once a day, just to bask in the county’s most beautiful bypass. I remember a period of a couple weeks late last spring when, every day, as I drove over the Dam Road, I wished I had my camera, because something amazing happened each time. Mostly, it was the alpenglow hanging over the lake — the stunning colors of the sky mixed with blue water.
While I silently curse tourists who drive 15 mph under the speed limit on other roads, whenever it happens on the Dam Road, I just smile, and think to myself, “Yes. It is beautiful, isn’t it?â€
This, to me, is the most profound sadness: That in order to maintain a sense of security, some of us feel we must give up portions of life’s greatest pleasures.
