Counties, private firm and U.S. Forest Service outline plan to upgrade McClure Pass communications site

Pitkin County commissioners heard a multi‑jurisdictional briefing on May 12 about a proposal to upgrade public‑safety radio and cellular coverage at McClure Pass by building a new communications site with buried fiber, ground equipment and a roughly 195‑foot self‑support tower.

The presentation, led by Scott Morrell of Gunnison County, consultant Chris Stryker of Stryker Aero and U.S. Forest Service representative Kevin Warner, said the proposal aims to close what Morrell described as “the largest communications gap in the state for the DTR system” and to provide cell coverage from Somerset to Redstone, improving first‑responder radio interoperability and public 911 reachability.

Commissioners were shown engineering details and route plans. The project would run about 5.97 miles of buried fiber from the Wagon Trail/Highway 133 junction, using four conduits in an approximately 24‑inch trench with roughly 49 handholds spaced about 800 feet apart, then follow state highway right‑of‑way and Ragged Mountain Road to the summit site. The ground compound would be about 100 by 100 feet and include an equipment shelter sized to accommodate multiple tenants. Presenters said the proposed tower height is about 195 feet, kept below 200 feet to avoid Federal Aviation Administration marking and lighting requirements in that location.

“We will enter at a just on the right side of the…