Weld County authorizes lawsuit to block Hudson, Pilot actions on County Road 49 construction

Weld County commissioners voted May 5 to authorize the county attorney to sue the town of Hudson and Pilot Travel Centers LLC and to seek an injunction over construction and traffic-control work in the County Road 49 right of way.

Assistant County Attorney Matt Conroy told the board the dispute centers on who may authorize construction and what construction standards apply in the stretch of County Road 49 annexed by Hudson. “This is a situation nobody wants to be in,” Conroy said, and he asked the board to authorize filing a complaint seeking a court declaration that Hudson breached intergovernmental agreements and an injunction preventing further work that conflicts with the county’s standards.

Public Works director Curtis Hall described a multi-year effort to coordinate with Hudson and Pilot and said Weld County staff remain unable to verify materials or methods used in recent work. Hall said county inspectors removed contractor traffic control on a recent weekend and installed county signage and barriers to protect the traveling public. “We are protecting the traveling public out there from a dangerous situation,” he said.

Pilot’s outside counsel, Hunter Ross of Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, told commissioners the project is nearly complete and said Pilot relied on Hudson permits and approvals. “We’re 2 to 3 weeks away from being completely done,” Ross said, adding that Pilot declined to accept county direction because it viewed the road as municipal within Hudson’s jurisdiction.

Commissioners and staff cited two intergovernmental agreements—one adopting an access-control plan and a 2016 IGA assigning maintenance responsibilities—and state law governing access-controlled highways. County attorneys told the board Hudson previously told the county that it could not require Pilot to conform to county construction and traffic-control standards; Hudson council correspondence later said the town recognizes county permitting authority, a point Hudson and Pilot disputed in the meeting.

Commissioner Scott James moved to approve the county attorney’s request to pursue litigation; Commissioner Kevin Ross seconded. The board voted in favor and the county attorney’s office will proceed to file a complaint and request an injunction asking the court to settle who controls construction standards and to prevent further conflicting work until the dispute is resolved.

The item produced repeated procedural and factual disagreements among the parties: county staff emphasized unresolved safety and maintenance concerns and a need to review materials before accepting future maintenance responsibility; Pilot’s counsel said dual permitting and late-stage objections make simultaneous compliance impractical. The board’s action directs the county attorney to seek judicial resolution rather than immediate administrative enforcement.

The lawsuit, if filed, would ask the court to clarify the parties’ rights under the cited IGAs and statute and to restrain further construction or traffic-control changes that conflict with the county’s installations. No filing had been made in court at the time of the meeting.

If the county proceeds, the case would determine whether Pilot and Hudson must obtain Weld County approval for construction within the county-maintained corridor and which standards apply to work that the county may ultimately be required to maintain.