The Town of Estes Park has been awarded more than $700,000 of federal funding for construction of a large ‘park and ride’ east of the town to support the existing free transit services in the downtown and Rocky Mountain National Park.

The funding is from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (

) Program which funds transportation projects nationwide that improve air quality and relieve congestion. The funding was allocated locally through the Upper Front Range Transportation Planning Region in a competitive project selection process.

Larimer County Commissioner Tom Donnelly sits on the Executive Committee of the Upper Front Range Regional Planning Council which works on regional transportation issues. Donnelly supported the ‘park and ride’ project for Estes Park, “The Colorado Department of Transportation has federal dollars available for the Upper Front Range and as the area’s representative on this committee it is important to me that this funding is used to build important projects in our area.”

Estes Park Public Work Director Scott Zurn welcomes the funding, “The Town of Estes Park is very excited to utilize these funds to reduce pollution in the Front Range and Rocky Mountain National Park in an effort to preserve Colorado natural areas for future generations.”

The concept of a large park and ride on the east end of town was initially identified in 2003 in the Estes Valley Transportation Feasibility Study. Most of the approximately 4.5 million annual visitors to the Estes Valley arrive and depart from the east via one of three Colorado State Highways-34, 36, and 7. The new Transportation Hub will be located east of State Highway 7 and south of State Highway 36.

The funding becomes available July 2010 and construction could start as early as fall 2010.