On Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, 32,787 vehicles entered and left Aspen, the most of any day that year. Most of them crossed the Castle Creek Bridge on Highway 82. Another 4,428 vehicles, 14% of the day's total, used Power Plant Road and crossed Castle Creek on a narrow span most drivers barely notice.
That span is the Smuggler Bridge. The City of Aspen plans to replace it, with construction expected to begin in April 2027. The four months of construction are the obvious story. The more lasting one is that the city is building a bridge meant to last about 75 years while two other city processes decide what kind of traffic the route will be allowed to carry.
A Small Bridge Carrying an Outsized Share
The city's Sept. 29 press release describes the bridge as carrying Power Plant Road over Castle Creek and providing "critical secondary access in and out of the city." It was built in 1973 and has outlasted its typical design life. Inspections found structural, hydraulic and scour-related concerns, along with the geometry anyone who drives it knows: a narrow roadway, steep approaches and a sensitive creek corridor. In May, The Aspen Times called it the only alternate route into and out of Aspen for down-valley communities other than the Castle Creek Bridge.
For years, nobody counted the traffic on this route consistently. In late 2024 and early 2025, the Elected Officials Transportation Committee installed new counters on Power Plant Road, McLain Flats Road, Owl Creek Road and Maroon Creek Road. Aspen Journalism then analyzed a full calendar year of the data. Here is what that year showed:
- Daily average, 2025: 1,657 vehicles on Power Plant Road, about 7% of all traffic entering and leaving Aspen.
- Afternoon peak: up to 34% of outbound traffic left town on Power Plant Road to avoid the Highway 82 S-curves, according to a 2024 analysis by city contractor Jacobs Engineering.
- Combined entrance traffic, 2025: an average of 22,449 vehicles a day across the Castle Creek Bridge and Power Plant Road, about 5% below the 1993 benchmark of 23,695 that local officials aim to stay under.
Power Plant Road's daily share is small. Its afternoon share is large. On an ordinary weekday at 4 p.m., the Smuggler Bridge carries a share of Aspen's outbound traffic that the 7% daily figure hides. Aspen Journalism wrote that this side-entrance traffic comes from drivers "seek[ing] to beat the gridlock that typically chokes Highway 82 during the morning and afternoon peak periods."
The route also has a long history. A Castle Creek power plant was built in 1892 beneath the old "State Bridge." The city ran a hydro plant on Power Plant Road from the 1890s until 1958.
Why the City Chose Replacement Over Repair
In May 2026, Aspen City Council unanimously approved $558,681 for a replacement design by Engineering Operations LLC. The city weighed two options. Rehabilitation would add 15 to 30 years to the bridge's life. Replacement would provide about 75 years.
"When we assessed the option of rehabilitating the current bridge or replacing the bridge, the cost was similar, and the impacts on traffic were less with a replacement, so the choice was made for a full replacement." Jack Danneberg, City of Aspen senior project manager, to The Aspen Times
In that May report, Danneberg described an accelerated method using precast concrete parts made offsite, which he said would keep one lane open throughout construction. The city's position has since changed. In late September, he told The Aspen Times the city is evaluating two approaches. One is a full closure, which would likely be shorter but more disruptive. The other keeps one lane of traffic open. Either way, construction is expected to take about four months.
"The project is still in design and preconstruction, so final construction, phasing and traffic management details have not been set," Danneberg said. For anyone who uses the afternoon exit, the choice between a closure and one lane is the main open question for 2027.
The Calendar Between Now and Next Summer
The bridge work is one of several dated projects that affect the same commute:
- Oct. 6–8, 2026. Power Plant Road between Cemetery Lane and 8th Street is closed to through traffic from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for a new water-service line. Local access stays open, and the road reopens to through traffic outside work hours.
- Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, 4 to 6 p.m. The first public open house on the bridge is in the Pearl Pass conference room at Aspen City Hall. Attendees can review preliminary concepts and comment on the bridge's appearance.
- November 2026. Aspen City Council plans a work session on West End traffic measures, including possible weight or length limits on Power Plant Road. Pitkin County also hopes to put the Smith Hill Way safety project out to bid in November.
- January 2027. The city expects a second bridge open house, with more detail on phasing, access and expected impacts.
- April 4, 2027, 11 p.m. Aspen/Pitkin County Airport closes for runway reconstruction until Nov. 19, 2027, at 7 p.m. Construction of the new terminal and FBO is also scheduled to begin in April.
- April 2027. Smuggler Bridge construction is expected to begin.
The overlap between items five and six is deliberate. In May, Danneberg said the bridge work is meant to coincide with the airport closure to reduce traffic impacts. The Smith Hill Way project affects the McLain Flats approach, which feeds the same back route. The latest Aspen Times report says the county hopes to build in 2027, finish by year's end, and keep highway lanes open during peak commute periods. No combined traffic forecast has been published for these three 2027 projects.
The Rules for Power Plant Road Are Being Rewritten Too
The new bridge is designed to last decades. The rules for driving on it are being decided now, through two other city processes.
The first is the West End mobility study. The city council approved $400,000 in contracts for it after dozens of West End residents raised concerns about rush-hour traffic in their neighborhood. The city has reviewed or is reviewing 13 projects. Traffic diverters on Hallam Street this spring reduced unauthorized vehicle access, according to city staff, and are scheduled to return on Hallam and Hopkins streets next spring. At the November work session, council will also consider coordinating Highway 82 signal timing with CDOT, a possible signaled pedestrian crossing at Eighth Street, and the Power Plant Road truck limits.
The second is the Entrance to Aspen reevaluation. The city, Jacobs Engineering, the Federal Highway Administration and CDOT are reworking the 1998 preferred alternative, which would move Highway 82 onto a new alignment that bypasses the S-curves. The concept presented to council in September restores a Cemetery Lane connection to the new highway, adds slip lanes at the Maroon Creek roundabout, and turns the existing Castle Creek Bridge into a local road. It also prohibits left turns off Power Plant Road, a change the Aspen Daily News described as aimed at the "West End sneak" out of town. Jacobs' Doug Stremel told council the designs are "still conceptual and subject to revisions." In September, Jacobs' Jim Clarke estimated that the draft reevaluation would go to CDOT in late April and to the FHWA in late May, with a decision expected by July 7.
These timelines overlap. The bridge will go under construction in April 2027. The draft entrance plan is due to reach CDOT and federal reviewers during the same months. A council decision on truck limits could come even sooner. The bridge, the road it carries and the turn at its western end are being decided separately, all within the next year.
What the Bridge Design Can Still Absorb
The current design phase is where residents have a say on the physical bridge. The May staff report said the replacement would prioritize pedestrian safety and aesthetics similar to the Mill Street and Neale Avenue bridges. In September, Danneberg described the team as "balancing structural performance, durability, maintenance needs, environmental considerations, construction impacts, cost and fit within the surrounding landscape," with the goal of a bridge that "complements the Castle Creek corridor."
Walking is the hard part here. A 2024 city-commissioned memo found that a pedestrian path along Power Plant Road would require substantial ADA work, including switchbacks, wheelchair rest areas and retaining walls. Walkers between the Castle Creek Bridge and the Eighth and Hallam bus stop already have an alternative in the Marolt pedestrian bridge, a 0.63-mile route compared with 0.60 miles via Power Plant Road.
The city says public safety and evacuation access will remain key considerations throughout planning and construction. The Oct. 7 session is the first chance to see the preliminary concepts. Project updates are posted at Aspen Community Voice, and Danneberg can be reached at 970-987-2950 or [email protected].
How this route is managed in 2027 will shape the short drive from the West End and Cemetery Lane to Highway 82. For owners deciding when to list, renovate or schedule contractors next spring and summer, the timing of these projects is useful information. Aspen Lodge Properties follows these decisions closely for our clients. If you would like to plan your 2027 around them, Schedule a Confidential Consultation.
