UPCOMING Main Street closure, a prescribed fire burn at the Sand Dunes, and homecoming week at Adams State are topics for the Monday Briefing.
Main Street Closed
Starting Tuesday, October 12, Main Street Alamosa will be closed from Denver Avenue to Edison Avenue daily from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., while joint City of Alamosa and CDOT crews relocate the parking curb stops and bollards to allow for additional room between traveling vehicles and the parking stalls. The Citizen reported on the upcoming work as part of minor adjustments being made to the recent redesign of Main Street. Best to park on the side perimeter streets and walk onto Main Street for the coming week while the adjustments are being made. No on-street parking will be permitted on Main Street for the duration of the project. Westbound Highway 160/Main Street traffic will be detoured onto Fourth Street during construction hours. The project is expected to take 3-4 days, depending on weather.
Cooler Temperatures
Speaking of weather, expect cooler temperatures into the 50s, with a hard freeze warning as overnight temps reach below freezing. The Alamosa Regional Airport doppler weather radar shows Tuesday as the best day for some moisture, but then it’s mostly the cool sunshine that makes the San Luis Valley the place that it is.
Prescribed Burns
The Great Sand Dunes’ Kathy Faz reports that the national park is proposing two prescribed burns – one in October and one in November – as part of the national park’s hazardous fuels reduction efforts. The Sand Dunes fire managers are working with the Rio Grande National Forest to prepare and conduct a prescribed burn on up to 3,300 acres near the national park’s northern boundary. The project area is located south of Baca Grande Subdivision, and approximately three miles south of Creston. The fire operation will remain west of Liberty Road. Temporary closures along Liberty Road may occur during the operation to ensure public health and safety while firefighters are working along the road. Two burn windows are being proposed, October 26-29 or November 8-12, if favorable weather and fuel conditions permit. These dates occur between hunting seasons and were selected to reduce impact to recreational users on adjacent public lands where hunting is allowed. Hunting is not allowed within the national park where the prescribed burn will take place. “Prescribed fire is a proactive tool used to achieve a number of purposes,” said Mike Lewelling, Great Sand Dunes Fire Management Officer. “The primary purpose of this prescribed burn is the reduction of hazardous fuels (overgrown vegetation). It helps decrease the threat of high-intensity, high-severity wildfires and reduce the risk of wildfire danger to nearby communities.” Smoke will be visible from the Crestone and Baca Grande Subdivision, Colorado State Highway 17, and other locations in the San Luis Valley. For questions, please contact the Public Works Office at 719-589-6631.
Mask Requirement
A 14-day mask requirement for Alamosa students in kindergarten through the eighth grade goes into effect today, Monday, Oct. 11, to help the school district address COVID-19 concerns. The Alamosa School Board adopted the recommendation as its most recent meeting. Dr. Justin Buchholz, hospitalist medical director for SLV Health Regional Medical Center and Conejos County Hospital in La Jara, wrote a letter to the school board providing support for the mask requirement. If you haven’t read Buchholz’s accounting of how the delta variant has caused alarm among the Valley’s medical community, you should. It’s here as part of The Citizen’s accounting of the school board’s decision. “The strain COVID-19 has placed on our health care system in every regard is unprecedented,” Buchholz said.
Adams State Homecoming
Not too many people will be as busy as Ashley Maestas will be this week. The new Director of Alumni Relations and Engagement at Adams State oversees her first homecoming week, hosting visiting alumni, putting on an awards banquet, and getting a Homecoming parade in order. You can find a full schedule of events here, including Saturday’s 10 a.m. parade down Main Street Alamosa. Adams State will honor alumni Dennis Lopez as its 2021 Billy Adams recipient, along with recognitions for Outstanding Alumnus and Outstanding New Alumnus. The Grizzlies homecoming football game is against Chadron State beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, following the parade.
General Specific Store Costume Party
Before you head off, take a look at the wonderful photo gallery by Ryan Michelle Scavo as she took in the scene at the General Specific Store costume party in Del Norte over the weekend. The brainchild of store owner Corey Hubbard, the General Specific Store continues to add a dash of panache to Valley life. Here’s our earlier feature on Hubbard and husband, Ryan Methfessel, and the vision behind the General Specific Store.
