Governor Jared Polis Opens Trail to Summit of Fishers Peak State Park

On March 19th, 2023, after only 3.5 years of planning, design and construction, Governor Polis opened the new, much anticipated 8-Mile trail to the 9,633 Foot summit of Fishers Peak State Park. The trail will remain open until March 15th, followed by a closure for raptor nesting. The Closure will run from March 15th to July 31st every year.

Kevin Shanks, Vice President of THK Associates, Master Planning and Trail Design Project Manager for Fishers Peak State Park, participated in the Sunday morning hike and ribbon cutting at the top of the peak with Governor Jared Polis, DNR Director Dan Gibbs, CPW Director Jeff Davis and Fishers Peak State Park Manager, Crystal Dreiling.

"Fishers Peak is an Icon to anyone traveling north over Raton Pass into Colorado or exploring the southeast region of the state,” Director Davis said. “This trail is a major accomplishment, given the quick timeline and the challenging conditions faced by the trail builders. I applaud CPW Park Manager Crystal Drieling and the entire team that made this happen.”

Governor Polis, DNR Director Dan Gibbs, CPW Director Jeff Davis and Park/Trail Designers Kevin Shanks (THK) and Bill Mangle (ERO) Open Fishers Peak Summit Trail.

I-70 Westbound Peak Period Shoulder Lane's Lancaster Bridge

As a part of the I-70 Westbound Peak Period Shoulder Lane project, THK is part of the team working to complete this masssive improvement to Colorado's mountain roadways! This includes the Lancaster Bridge.

Check out the article by 303cycling here!

THK to Lead the Development of Fisher's Peak State Park

THK Associates, Inc. (THK) is excited to announce a partnership with Trust for Public Land (TPL), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), the City of Trinidad and Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to develop the Fisher’s Peak State Park Master Plan.

Encompassing over 19,000 acres, Fisher’s Peak was purchased by TPL and TNC with hopes of opening the area to the public while also preserving sensitive plant and wildlife habitat. In Sept. 2019, Governor Jared Polis signed an executive order to officially make the area Colorado’s 42nd State Park. Fisher’s Peak State Park will be Colorado’s 2nd largest State Park behind State Forest State Park. Click here to read more about this project and to get involved with the project with TPL!

New Pinon Bridge No Longer at Risk!

THK is featured in the December 2019 Fountain Creek Chronicles in celebration of the Pinon Bridge Project, completed in the spring of 2019!

Check out the newsletter here!

Fountain Creek Restoration at Barr Farms Underway

THK is excited to team up with the Fountain Creek Flood Control and Greenway District, Matrix Design Group, Sun Construction and Total Terrain to design and construct the 6,200 LF of Creek improvements through Barr Farm. To see the exciting work the District is doing in the Fountain Creek watershed, please visit http://www.fountain-crk.org/ .

I-70 Mountain Corridor Improvements

Gov. Jared Polis, CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew and local representatives gathered on July 11th in Idaho Springs to celebrate the start of construction on the THK's westbound I-70 mountain Express Lane.

Source: https://mailchi.mp/codot/work-starts-next-week-on-the-westbound-i-70-mountain-express-lane

I-25 Ilex Project Ribbon Cutting Celebration

On Thursday, June 27, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and contractor, Flatiron Construction, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony at Runyon Field Sports Complex Parking Lot to celebrate the completion of the I-25 Ilex Street to City Center Drive project, the first phase of the New Pueblo Freeway.

THK was pleased to be on the CDOT team during this exciting project as this project celebrates many positive changes such as a desire to improve the look and aesthetics of the interstate from the local community perspective. Eleven bridges were replaced, rehabilitated or widened. Continuous acceleration and deceleration lanes between the City Center Drive and D Street interchanges provide much safer and improved conditions when entering and exiting I-25. Aesthetics were chosen to compliment local land uses around the project.

Source: https://www.codot.gov/news/2019/june/i-25-the-new-pueblo-freeway-ilex-street-to-city-center-drive

Thomas Phelps Creek Trail Completed

Masciantonio Trust Property restoration nears completion!

Fountain Creek has been unleashed as restoration on the Masciantonio Trust Property  nears completion. This project has developed an innovative solution to stop erosion along an outside bank of Fountain Creek while improving riparian habitat and protecting private property. A series of bendway weirs now directs high velocity water away from the bank and a wide riparian bench of willow and cottonwoods provides critical environmental habitat.

Revegetation will continue throughout the spring until construction concludes in May.

Concrete is being poured at the Uintah Underpass and creek access!

THK was very excited to see photos of the concrete pour completed last week!  The next step in the construction process will be to construct the gabion retaining walls. These walls taper from approximately 25 vertical feet down to existing grade and provide support for the new trail access into the Monument Creek channel.