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Gypsum planning to build a new roundabout along Highway 6

Town has started process of acquiring property needed for the project

Most of Gypsum's food trucks will have to move from their current location this year as the town plans to build a new roundabout at the intersection of U.S. Highway 6 and Valley Road.
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily archive

There’s another roundabout in Gypsum’s future, and it’s likely to be built this year.

That new roundabout will be built at the intersection of U.S. Highway 6 and Valley Road. The Gypsum Town Council on Tuesday took a step in that process by passing on first reading an ordinance that authorizes town officials to begin negotiations with property owners around that intersection to acquire needed property for the project.

Two of those parcels include land on the west and east sides of Estes Lane, on the north side of the stoplight at the intersection. That’s where many of the town’s several food trucks currently operate.



Gypsum Town Manager Jeremy Rietmann said the town has an agreement in principle with one of the property owners that includes an exchange of a town-owned parcel. Town officials have also spoken with Itzy Hernandez, owner of Itzy’s Coffee, about relocating her shop to another location buffering Highway 6.

Officials have spoken with other food truck owners about moving to a town-owned location near the town’s Interstate 70 interchange.

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In addition to the land needed for just the roundabout, other land is needed for detours, and further work will need to be done to help accommodate the parking needs of the Connect Church.

The engineering and road alignments for the project have been completed in-house. Rietmann said passing the ordinance Tuesday starts a legal process that starts appraisals and negotiations to acquire the needed land.

The goal, Rietmann said, is to deliver legal notice and advise property owners of their rights about the process of selling property. The town has already had the land values appraised and is prepared to offer the land owners a price above that value. If the land owners choose, they can hire another appraiser, at the town’s expense, to determine that value and negotiate a price.

That, he said, should lead to good-faith negotiations. If not, Rietmann said the town is prepared to begin condemnation proceedings “as a last resort.”

If the negotiations drag out, Rietmann said the town can put funds on deposit, take possession of the property and start construction this year.

The idea, he said, is to balance the rights of the property owners with the “needs of a growing community.”

Town Engineer Matt Figgs said the roundabout at Valley Road will link with the existing roundabout at Highway 6 and Schoolside to eliminate the need for a stoplight at the intersection of Highway 6 and Oak Ridge, the intersection at the entrance to Eagle Valley High School.

The town has budgeted $3.5 million for the roundabout project, roughly the cost of the 2024 roundabout project on the north side of the town’s Interstate 70 interchange. That price doesn’t include the cost of land acquisition.


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