<\/p>\n
When longtime employees retire, they usually impart words of wisdom or tricks of the trade to their successors. For retiring Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Nancy Shanks, she leaves to her heir a bridge that leads to nowhere \u2013 for now.<\/p>\n
The planned $47 million interchange at U.S. highways 550 and 160 has dominated Shanks\u2019 19-year career in La Plata County, a project that was supposed to realign U.S. 550 away from a dangerously steep hill and connect the north side of the road to an area expected to see massive development.<\/p>\n
Yet in 2006, CDOT planners hit a snag when an affected property owner raised concerns that the department overlooked archeological sites that date to 1000 AD, an old ranch that holds an historic designation and a gas well that would have literally been in the middle of the proposed road.<\/p>\n
For the ensuing decade, the division was hit with criticism for the oversight, and a sort of war of words was waged through letters to the editor and social media. Eventually, the lame duck overpass, which was completed in 2011, earned the moniker: \u201cThe Bridge to Nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saved them all,\u201d Shanks said of news clippings, which lay in a stack of files concerning the project that towers above the rest.<\/p>\n
Within the last year, all interested parties agreed on an altered route that skirts the western edge of the mesa rather than going through the middle of the Webb ranch property. Shanks said in hindsight, the ultimate benefit from the huge project disruption is that a better plan was developed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we just need the money,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s the tricky part.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shanks said as the regional communications director for the department, her job wasn\u2019t to change anyone\u2019s perception whether an interchange was warranted, a recurring criticism of the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t change your mind, but I can sure give you all the information you need to make your own decision,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Shanks stressed that the department\u2019s task is to build for the future. So even though the bridge quite literally leads to nowhere now, once funding becomes available, the infrastructure and plans are in place.<\/p>\n
Still, Shanks said she doubts the overpass will ever lose its nickname.<\/p>\n
Shanks, 49, began her career with CDOT in 1997 at the department\u2019s Denver office. But in 2003, when the opportunity arose to move back to the Western Slope and become the first communications manager to be a resident in the region, she took it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that I lived here and know and drive the roads is a great benefit to my job,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been great here.\u201d<\/p>\n
A California native, Shanks moved to Dolores when her mother remarried, and the family bought the Outpost Motel, which now has different ownership.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, Shanks\u2019 mother, Shirley Murphy, became the director of the Durango Chamber of Commerce and relocated the family to Durango. Shanks split her college career at Fort Lewis College and the University of Colorado-Boulder, and spent some time out of state before landing the CDOT job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came on board as a writer\/editor, but soon things started changing, with social media and emails taking over faxes,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just needed to meet the needs of media and the public and become PR experts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CDOT office in Durango is undergoing a shakeup of sorts, emphasized by the 19-year career retirement of Shanks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of changes going on around here,\u201d said Shanks, whose last day is April 29. She said she plans to take some time to travel, then come back to Durango to work as a privately-contracted public relations officer.<\/p>\n
Regional director Karrie Neet is taking a year off to go hiking \u201coff the grid.\u201d Traffic engineer Mike McVaugh will take Neet\u2019s place, leaving his position open.<\/p>\n
McVaugh, who has been with CDOT for 25 years, will take charge of the more than 342 employees who are responsible for the 15-county area in Southwest and south-central Colorado.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Shanks said, her replacement is no stranger to Southwest Colorado. Lisa Schwantes has lived in Durango since 1987, working as a community outreach liaison for various agencies.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s been contracted by the Durango Chamber of Commerce, Fort Lewis College, Region 9 Economic Development Office, La Plata County Development Alliance and the Southwest area health education center.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis just seemed like a natural fit in terms of learning about a new part of our community,\u201d Schwantes said.<\/p>\n
Asked if she\u2019s ready to carry on the next chapter of the legacy of The Bridge to Nowhere: \u201cI guess I\u2019m inheriting that, aren\u2019t I?\u201d she said on April 4 \u2013 her first day of work.<\/p>\n