A Steamboat Springs engineering plan to extend the Yampa River Core Trail west to Sleepy Bear Mobile Home Park and to create a tunnel pathway under U.S. Highway 40 to the Overlook Park subdivision received notice Friday of the final $1 million in funding needed to move forward.

The $1 million was part of Senate appropriation bills announced by Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet for congressionally directed spending of almost $130 million in projects across Colorado.

“It’s definitely exciting news,” said Danny Paul, a city civil engineer for 16 years. “Due to the timing, we will now need to come up with creative ways to move phases one and two ahead with minimal delay. With this announcement, we are going to be working hard to combine phase one and two into a single bid.”

The final $1 million needed for funding will allow the city to bid the trail extension and tunnel under the highway as one project in order to save funds. Before that, the details for six necessary trail easements stretching from Snow Bowl to Sleepy Bear must be finalized, according to Paul.

The projected timeline includes a request for construction bids in early summer, followed by necessary utility work this fall. The 0.65-mile trail extension should be complete by September 2025, Paul said, noting the project has been delayed due to more time being needed to secure the six easements. Some of the trail easements run across private property along the south side of Highway 40.

Early engineering estimates price the Core Trail extension project at approximately $3.5 million for acquiring the easements and constructing the trail. This first phase of construction for the trail extension project is fully funded thanks to grants received from the Colorado Department of Transportation’s transportation alternative program and multimodal option funds.

The new pedestrian and biking tunnel under the highway would connect from east of the Sleepy Bear neighborhood entrance to the current construction road of Overlook Park. That tunnel work should start in 2025 and would be completed in 2026 at an estimated cost of $5.25 million, according to Paul. The construction road to Overlook Park will become a paved emergency access road in the future. The tunnel construction would move forward regardless of the machinations of Brown Ranch subdivision.

Currently, residents from Sleepy Bear can often be seen walking along the south side of the highway to and from the bus stop at the Steamboat Springs KOA.

“Not only is it an important safety improvement, but an extension of the core trail is an important recreation amenity,” Paul said.

Bennet’s announcement included an appropriation of $2.5 million for the Craig Business and Industrial Park in Moffat County.

“I’m glad we were able to support nearly 80 projects across 30 Colorado counties in this round of funding,” Bennet said. “From funding water infrastructure in Lamar to a business park in Craig and a housing affordability project in Fort Collins, these investments will help Coloradans meet the changing needs of their communities.”

Other Colorado projects range from $3 million for renovation of the central public library in Aurora, to almost $960,000 for a wastewater infrastructure project for Gypsum, to more than $2 million for water plant renovations for Silt.

According to Paul, additional funding for the tunnel phase of the Steamboat project comes from a combination of sources, including revenue from the 2A accommodations tax, more than $1 million from the city, $500,000 pledged from Routt County, and a $250,000 grant from Colorado Parks & Wildlife non-motorized trail program.