Pawnee Buttes receives funding for improvements

DENVER – The Pawnee Pioneer Trail in Weld County is one of six of
Colorado’s Scenic and Historic Byways receiving more than $2 million
from the Federal Highway Administration.

The $148,000 for Pawnee Buttes announced Thursday will fund improvements
to visitor amenities, including additional parking, new picnic areas
and trail construction at the Pawnee Buttes Trailhead in the eastern
portion of the Pawnee National Grasslands.

Other projects receiving funding:

• A statewide conservation plan and toolkit for all byways in Colorado — $1.7 million;

• Safety improvements and congestion reduction at the Grand Mesa County Line Trailhead in Mesa County — $186,500;

• Sign improvements at four sites along the Santa Fe Trail — $60,000;

• Turnout improvements along the Silver Thread byway (State Highway 149) between Lake City and South Fork — $49,760;

• Bicycle rack installation along the 40-mile Lariat Loop byway in
  Jefferson County, the state’s only urban scenic and historic byway —
  $25,200.

The FHWA funded 123 projects in 40 states as part of the National Scenic
Byways Program. Eleven of Colorado’s 25 byways are nationally
recognized for their outstanding scenic and historic attributes, giving
the state the most nationally designated byways in the United States.