New rockfall above Timber Ridge Village project in Vail prompts additional mitigation efforts
Work will close Lionsridge Loop road; could start as early as June 9
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
The town of Vail is planning to expand its rockfall mitigation efforts on the slope above Lionsridge Loop road after a large boulder tumbled down the hillside above the Timber Ridge construction site earlier this year.
The rockfall event occurred following a period of extreme weather, which took place in February. Vail Housing Director Jason Dietz told the Town Council on Tuesday that while there is no imminent danger in the area currently, the February weather event created a new erosion channel on the hillside and additional mitigation work is now being recommended.
“There was a really wet, heavy snow, followed by rain and warm days that opened up a new erosion channel and pushed an approximately 200-pound rock down the hill, and it went through some concrete forms,” Dietz said. “The area was inspected and we determined that we should do a little bit more and extend the rockfall mitigation area.”
The only problem with that idea, Dietz said, is the additional mitigation work has not been accounted for in the Timber Ridge construction budget.
As a result, the council approved an additional $100,000 on Tuesday to complete the work. Dietz said the six-figure add-on is a not-to-exceed number, and the actual work should come in well below that.
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Dietz is hoping that crews can begin as early as June 9, depending on logistics like the installation of safety barriers to catch the additional rockfall that will come down the hillside as part of the mitigation work.
“We’d like to do it before the really busy season starts,” Dietz said. “We will have to close the road, and we will be utilizing straw bales and/or jersey barriers to help mitigate rocks coming down into the project,” Dietz said.
Gregg Hall with Vail Public Works said regardless of the recent rockfall event, the additional mitigation work is probably a good idea since the last mitigation effort on the rock band above Timber Ridge occurred in 2019.
“The requirement is every five years you should go up there and look,” Hall said.
