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TELLURIDE, CO–The popular Imogene Pass off-road route will remain closed for much of the summer as San Miguel County begins repairs following severe washouts during last year’s summer storms.

“Obviously our main goal is keeping the users of that pass safe and ensuring that if there’s a section of road that is concerning, that we have a reasonable level of confidence that all vehicles that are allowed to travel over are safe to do so,” said San Miguel County Manager Mike Bordogna.

The county began the process by assessing the damage.

“We first evaluated if we could do a temporary fix,” Bordogna said. “When we understood the increased complexity of the problem, we brought in geotechnical work and the county paid for that — to do core drilling, to find the layers of rock and bedrock and the integrity of the bedrock — to understand what type of design we would need to do.”

Most of the repairs are concentrated about 2.5 miles from Telluride, in the Royer Gulch waterfall area. The road falls under joint jurisdiction of the county and the U.S. Forest Service. Bordogna said the county is patching together funding from private foundations, Jeep clubs, local businesses, and off-road users.

“We’ve had some local businesses from Telluride already say they would pledge some donations toward this,” he said. “But unfortunately, as we all know, the Forest Service, with their current and expected future cuts, is not in a position where they could contribute substantially.”

The project recently went to bid, and 10 contractors submitted proposals — a sign of hope for competitive pricing and outcomes. Estimated costs range from $600,000 to $800,000.

Work is expected to take most of the summer. Although vehicles won’t be able to cross the entire pass, both sides will remain partially accessible.

“We have proposed — and they’ve tentatively agreed — to a higher-up closure,” Bordogna said. “That would allow for vehicles to get to a turnaround. So there will be vehicular access from here pretty soon, up higher before this closure area. Obviously foot and bike traffic will be allowed throughout the entire time of the project, except they will not be allowed to cross into the construction area.”

Ouray County will allow access from its side, with responsibility for search and rescue due to emergency response challenges during the closure.

So far, the county has raised about $155,000 in combined contributions from the Forest Service, Idarado Mining and private donors.

“We’re trying to make that delicate balancing act of using tax dollars responsibly,” Bordogna said, “but also we understand the impacts on the economy, on tourism, on our locals’ recreation.”

The closure is expected through September. Updates are available at sanmiguelcountyco.gov.

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