Littleton residents urge Arapahoe County to preserve 'soft trails' on Mineral Spur project

Several Littleton residents and local trail experts told Arapahoe County commissioners during public comment May 13 that a planned paving of the Mineral Spur (Jackass Gulch Railroad Spur) trail would damage recreational open space and asked the county to insist on a dual-surface design (parallel concrete and crusher-fines lanes).

Speakers including Ned Stern, Don Brunz and Mark Flink (reading comments submitted for Steve Lowry) described the spur as a recreational soft trail that links the High Line Canal to the Mary Carter Greenway and said conversion to a 16-foot-wide continuous concrete surface would change the trail’s character and create safety, maintenance and accessibility problems for runners, walkers, cyclists and people using mobility devices.

What speakers said

- Ned Stern, a 33-year Littleton resident, said the spur is part of an 18-mile soft-trail network and that Littleton and South Suburban Parks and Recreation had earlier attempted to pave portions of area soft trails. He told commissioners the spur trail serves recreational access within a natural corridor and that ‘‘a dual surface trail was the original design budgeted’’ in Littleton’s grant request from Arapahoe County Open Space.

- Don Brunz, a retired outdoor recreation planner, urged design changes to avoid a 16-foot concrete surface, saying a hard-surface path could be located between the crusher-fines trail and Mineral Avenue to serve new users while retaining the crusher-fines segment for runners and others. He raised winter maintenance and snow-plow impacts for sidewalks adjacent to Mineral Avenue.

- Mark Flink, speaking for Steve Lowry, summarized public-record research and a community poll that the speakers said showed majority opposition to an all-concrete option. Flink asked the county to withdraw or threaten to withdraw funding unless Littleton agrees to a dual-surface path and to advise Littleton that awarding a contract for all-concrete paving could make the city solely responsible for project costs.

County response and context

Commissioners accepted the comments into the public record and confirmed staff had the maps and written materials provided by speakers. No formal county action on the Miner Spur trail funding or design occurred at the May 13 meeting; public comment was recorded and the speakers asked the board to use its grant and IGA authority to require a dual-surface outcome.

Clarifying details from the record

Speakers said the Railroad Spur Trail runs approximately 0.7 miles from the High Line Canal to Jackass Hill Road; the proposed hard-surface alignment was described as 16 feet wide. Speakers also cited polling and interviews (one poll: 112 respondents, 85% opposed to an all-concrete option) and referenced Littleton’s grant application language, public records and past study sessions.

Ending

Speakers asked the county to withhold or withdraw Arapahoe County Open Space funding or to require a dual-surface design in any Intergovernmental Agreement with the city. Commissioners did not vote on any funding action at the May 13 meeting; staff will continue to manage grant and IGA processes.