Timnath hears engineering update on County Road 5 bridge, recommends phased build and 25‑year flood protection

Engineers and town staff briefed the Town of Timnath council and planning commission on May 11 on progress for the County Road 5 corridor study and recommended improvements that include replacing the existing bridge and raising portions of the roadway.

The JUB Engineers project team said the preferred, cost‑balanced alternative would provide protection against flows up to a 25‑year event, expand the river crossing to a roughly 240‑foot span and include four 3-by-20 box culverts under the roadway toward the south end of the project. "We are proposing the 25 year storm event which would be a 240 foot bridge with 4 box culverts," the project team said during the presentation.

Why it matters: most of the corridor lies inside the Poudre River regulatory floodplain and has overtopped multiple times historically; the recommended design aims to reduce frequent overtopping while limiting impacts on adjacent properties and construction cost. Staff and consultants said the 25‑year standard balances resilience and cost because a viable alternate route exists at Whitesell Street, allowing the town to avoid the much larger expense of providing 100‑year protection at this location.

Key details and supporting information

- Scope and limits: the study examined the corridor roughly from just north of Harmony Road down to Whitesell Street, including the bridge…