City hosting clean-up day, VCMP soft opening May 21

Idaho Springs’ annual clean-up day will be extra-special this year, as residents will get a chance to visit Virginia Canyon Mountain Park.

The city plans to do a residents-only soft opening for the new park, starting May 21, with an official opening expected later this summer. The upper part of the trail will still be under construction, but city staff said there’s plenty to see.

Having both the VCMP soft opening and the clean-up day simultaneously will allow residents to check out the new trail and potentially pick up trash in the park, city staff said.

There will be some dedicated VCMP parking near the Argo, and the city is looking at other spots along Colorado Boulevard that can be used by park visitors.

“This whole trail was designed to be an amenity for residents first,” Assistant City Administrator Jonathan Cain said.

For the clean-up day, there will be dumpsters in the parking lot at Courtney-Ryley-Cooper Park. Volunteers will have an opportunity to pick up breakfast burritos and coffee before picking up trash along the rivers, roads, and other public areas.

Residents can also bring larger items to throw away in the dumpsters, with some restrictions. Mattresses and computers, for instance, aren’t allowed.

Idaho Springs’ last clean-up day was in May 2020, and about 60 people participated. While the annual event is usually in the spring, there has been some community demand to do another one in the fall. City officials are discussing whether it’s feasible to expand the event to more than once-a-year.

“Trash is an issue here,” City Council Member Lisa Manifold said. “We could have like a whole week. Mattress Day. Make Your Mulch Day. Slash Day. … How can we reorganize it?”

Greenway project will close Riverside Drive May 13

The Colorado Department of Transportation and its contractors will be closing Riverside Drive on May 13 to work on the Clear Creek Greenway path.

The closure was initially planned for May 3, but was rescheduled because of poor weather conditions.

Crews will close Riverside Drive from MP 1 to MP 1.37, which is just west of Gilson Street to East Cul-de-sac, to mobilize trucks and heavy machinery between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. that day. Loads as wide as 12 or 14 feet are expected.

Parking along Riverside Drive and on the cul-de-sac at the skateboard park won’t be permitted on May 13 because of safety concerns.

The new 10-foot-wide concrete pathway will include building two pedestrian bridges just east of Riverside Drive, a retaining wall, and improvements around the trail area.

Work on this section of the Greenway started last fall and is expected to be completed by September.