The Short Gap in Lawson Hill Everyone Walks Around, and What It Took to Fund Fixing It

A path just under a fifth of a mile long, from the County Park & Ride lot at the Lawson Hill entrance to the existing Highway 145 underpass toward Telluride, drew a low bid of $1,966,198.09 this fall. That works out to almost $11 million per mile. Within two weeks, San Miguel County and the Lawson Hill owners' board had each agreed to cover half of the shortfall, and they did it because the commercial strip on Society Drive has become a place the whole East End uses. The trail is the first time public money has been spent on that basis.

A Missing Piece of a Longer Trail

The county's bid posting calls the project "one of the missing orphan trail segments" of the SH 145 Down Valley Connector Trail. On either side of the gap, the trail system works fine. The paved Valley Floor Bike Path runs 6.6 miles along Highway 145, connects to the Galloping Goose Trail in Lawson Hill, and is described as accessible year-round and groomed in winter. The trouble is the short stretch near the highway entrance where people park their cars.

At a September commissioners' meeting, Deputy County Manager Jarrod Biggs described what's there now. He compared the trail the county wants to build, which is fully CDOT- and ADA-compliant, with something non-compliant: "the asphalt trail that exists kind of connecting Lawson Hill to the Valley Floor right now."

Lawson Hill POA board chair Alex Martin put it more plainly:

"And that's really why we're here — there really isn't a connector at this point. What we've come to understand is that it's never going to get cheaper. There's not going to be less traffic in Lawson Hill."

How the Neighborhood Outgrew Its Crosswalks

Martin listed the reasons in the same remarks. The intercept lot, he said, has "created even more traffic than we had five or six years ago." He added that Society Conoco has expanded, Telluride Tire is on site, and Alpine Lumber "has big trucks coming in and out." His summary: "what we've created is a very unsafe zone."

There have also been changes on Society Drive over the past year:

• Telluride Brewing Company bought the Counter Culture space after the restaurant's last day on Friday, Nov. 14, closed the deal Dec. 1, and remodeled it as Telluride Brewing Craft Kitchen and Pizza. Taking in that space and the canning space next door doubled the tasting room's seating at 156 Society Drive.
• Telluride CrossFit moved into a new building at 210 Society Drive in March 2026. Construction started in fall 2024 and finished in February, and the building holds a 2,100-square-foot gym and a two-bedroom apartment.
• SMART's free Lawson Hill route runs from the Courthouse through Pilot Knob Lane, Hillside, and Eider Creek into the neighborhood, with service into late evening. The Down Valley route stops at the Lawson Hill Park & Ride on weekdays on its way to Placerville. Starting Aug. 19, 2026, the new weekend midday Norwood service also stops at the Park & Ride, leaving toward Norwood at 10 a.m. and coming back at noon.

Each of these brings people into Lawson Hill from somewhere else. Commissioner Gleason said so at the meeting: "The commercial area is highly utilized by people well beyond those that live in Lawson Hill." Commissioner Lance Waring said the trail's purpose, connecting "our county intercept lot to the rest of a multimodal trail system in the East End," is why he was comfortable partnering with Lawson Hill.

Why the Price Doubled

The grant money came first. In 2023, the project won about $740,000 in CDOT funding, against an estimated total cost of about $1 million. Design work wrapped up in July 2026 and cost $92,060. CDOT grant funds paid $58,400 of that, and the Lawson Hill owners paid $33,660.

Construction bids went out in August and came back high. Biggs told commissioners the county received two bids, "both of them being significantly higher than the original $1 million approximate budget." Some of the cost comes with the grant. Because CDOT and the Federal Highway Administration are paying for most of the project, the contractor has to follow CDOT specifications, Buy America and Build America, Buy America rules, and Davis-Bacon wage requirements. The scope covers wall construction, a concrete shared-use path, curb and gutter, signage, and reseeding.

A cheaper design was possible. Biggs said a pared-down version would probably disqualify the project from CDOT money, and that either way the Lawson Hill POA's share would come out about the same. Gleason said a packed-gravel trail might cost less up front but "might actually cost more in the long run" once maintenance is counted.

The funding gap shows up as two different numbers. KOTO reported it at about $1.4 million once construction management and other costs were added in. The draft County–POA agreement puts the deficit at $1,234,072.09 after construction management and quality control testing. The pledges add up to as much as $1.4 million in both versions.

Where Things Stand This Week

As of Oct. 5, the contract has not been awarded. The Oct. 2 letter recommends Williams Construction at its low bid and asks CDOT to agree, so it is a request and not an award. The county's posting says every date "subject to change," and no construction start date has been announced.

The Next Wave of Traffic Is Already Planned

Gleason's case for building the more durable trail looked past this year. "As medical center construction at Society Turn moves forward," she said, the need for safe pedestrian paths will grow, and the county has to plan for "increase in localized foot traffic, coming from that development into the Lawson Hill commercial zone."

That development is close by. The Society Turn plat was recorded in March 2026, ending a planning process of roughly eight years. It covers nearly 20 acres and includes a parcel for a medical center of about 40,000 square feet, commercial space, housing, open space, trails, and room for a hotel of up to 125 rooms. Development is planned in three phases over three-, seven-, and ten-year horizons. CDOT describes the highway work, funded by Genesee Properties, as widening CO-145 west of the roundabout for a right-turn lane and acceleration and deceleration lanes. Williams Construction, the same firm recommended for the connector trail, is doing that work. CDOT's posted schedule for it gives both early September and October 2026 as end dates.

The medical center will take longer. Telluride Regional Medical Center CEO Jeff Roberts said the center expects to take possession of its site in late 2027 or early 2028. The Hospital District's March update targets construction and activation between 2028 and 2030. Over the next few years, people going to the brewery, the gym, the bus stops, and eventually the medical campus will all use that fifth of a mile.

Steve and Stevie Hilbert have been watching the Society Drive corridor for years and are happy to talk through how projects like this connector trail and Society Turn affect what you own nearby. To talk about your Lawson Hill property, request a personal consultation and free home valuation from Hilbert Homes.