Public workshops will discuss station development in Telluride and Mountain Village
By Sophie Stuber, Telluride Daily Planet Contributor - January 21, 2025
The gondola connecting Mountain Village and Telluride. There will be two public workshops on Jan. 27 and 28 to discuss specific gondola station area plans for Mountain Village and Telluride. (Courtesy photo)
The next phase of the gondola project will focus on station planning in Mountain Village and Telluride. The San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), Towns of Mountain Village and Telluride, and Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association (TMVOA) are hosting a series of public meetings, starting on Monday, Jan. 27, where the Gondola Leadership Committee will meet at 3 p.m. at Mountain Village Town Hall Council Chambers to go over the overall project and introduce the next planning phase.
The same week, there will be two public workshops that will discuss specific station area plans for both Mountain Village and Telluride. The gondola project team and town staff will also discuss their overall vision and how station planning will unfold over the next eight months.
“Get ready for a whirlwind of activity for the gondola,” Mountain Village Town Council Member Harvey Mogenson said during a town council meeting on Jan. 16. “For the next five months, we will be having a lot of activity to focus on what we should or shouldn't do and how we might look at our stations that are within Mountain Village.”
These meetings are the next steps after voters approved ballot measure 3A in the November 2024 election. This established funding to continue the current gondola service from Telluride to Mountain Village, replace the existing gondola and improve San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) bus services. The current funding used to operate and maintain the gondola expires on Dec. 31, 2027. Ballot measure 3A approved continued funding from January 2028 onward.
“The station area planning process we’re embarking on is the next phase of crafting the vision of how a new gondola will best fit into and serve our region,” SMART Executive Director David Averill said in a statement.
There will be a public workshop to discuss the Mountain Village gondola stations on Jan. 28 at 5 p.m., at Mountain Village Town Hall, with a Zoom option. This workshop will look at the gondola stations located in the center of Mountain Village — stations four and five — and the Market Plaza Station (station six). Then on Wednesday, Jan. 29, discussions will travel over to Telluride, where the town will host a workshop for the Oak Street Station (station one). The meeting will be from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Rebekah Hall, with a Zoom link provided.
“The goal is to come up with alternatives to present to the public about how we might want to reconfigure this, principally the stations in the (Mountain Village) core,” Mogenson said. “Since we're building a brand new gondola, it's the one time for the next 30 years to take a look at how our stations are positioned.”
The ballot measure also supports developing a plan to replace the current gondola. The estimated cost to replace the whole gondola system (system drive train, tower and cabins) is $60 million. There will likely need to be modifications to the gondola stations. SMART plans to apply for federal grants to pay for part of the gondola replacement. Before receiving federal grants, the transit authority has to show that it has the funding to keep operations running.
“These meetings will provide members of the public a chance to weigh in on this important aspect of the project which will help lead us into the future. The project team is looking forward to hearing from all stakeholders at these meetings,” Averill said.
Telluride Ski and Golf (TSG) and SMART announced a collaborative funding structure on Sep. 27, 2024. TSG will give SMART about $1.5 million annually, with the exact amount based on ticket and pass sales. This agreement also allows TSG to fix a 4.5% fee on tickets and passes sold to visitors. Tickets and passes purchased by people who live and work in the Telluride R1 School District are exempt from the ticketing fee.
At a Telluride Town Council meeting on Jan. 14, town council voted to approve an amendment to the intergovernmental agreement with TMVOA, the Town of Telluride, San Miguel County, SMART and TSG to fund the planning of the future gondola. The amendment clarified funding obligations for 2025, reallocates seats on the Gondola Leadership Committee and determines who is responsible for the planning for gondola stations one through six.
“In Telluride, we will be looking strictly at Oak Street, where the other entities will be looking at the other stations,” Telluride town manager Zoe Dohnal said during the meeting.
For details on the workshops and the gondola project, visit smarttelluride.colorado.gov/gondola-project or email amber.kyle.blake@smarttelluride.com.
To read the original Telluride Daily Planet article please click this link.
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