CONIFER —Conifer and Platte Canyon Area chambers of commerce are teaming up to bring more people to their area businesses, by the busload.
“There’s just so much more to do than just drive through Conifer and Bailey — there’s so much more to see, so we thought with these bus tours that we could get people a little taste of that,” said Sharon Trilk, owner of the community website mymountaintown.com. She is also a member of .
The first 285 Tourism bus — which will be a rented shuttle bus from the Senior Resource Center in Evergreen — takes off May 14 from the parking lot at the intersection of C-470 and Morrison Road near Morrison and ends in Bailey, visiting businesses and historical sites along the way, before returning. The $50 tickets cover drinks and snacks at certain stops and lunch.
If the first tour is successful, they hope to add more throughout the summer, integrating stops at local parks and possibly a scenic drive over Guanella Pass when it opens as a fully paved road for the first time this June.
“I think it could be a huge day trip opportunity that has not been here in the past,” said Marcel Flukiger, also a member of 285 Tourism and owner of Aspen Peak Cellars in Bailey, which will be a stop on the May 14 tour.
Other stops include the Little White Schoolhouse in Conifer for a presentation from the Conifer Historical Society, the Shawnee Tea Room in Bailey for a pottery demonstration, and free time in Bailey for a chance to check out McGraw Memorial Park or the Sasquatch Outpost.
Flukiger said he has seen increased traffic on U.S. 285 in recent years, especially as Colorado Department of Transportation directed traffic there during .
The communities along the 285 corridor have thus been facing highway gridlock on their main thoroughfare during peak times. Residents feel trapped in their homes during these times, Trilk said, and business owners do not see many drivers pull off.
“Our businesses do see an increase in the summer when there is more, but they don’t see as much as we would expect,” she said. “There’s a lot of people just passing right on through.”
As part of their efforts, 285 Tourism also is in conversations with Jefferson County and . Three projects since 2007 widened some parts of the highway and improved interchanges, but nothing else is planned for the near future because the funding just is not there, said Emily Wilfong, CDOT’s spokeswoman for the region.
“This is an issue statewide,” Wilfong said. “We don’t really have the funding to be adding capacity to roadways.”
Jefferson County Commissioner Don Rosier said he applauds the efforts of the 285 Tourism council. He said they have discussed ways the local community can raise matching dollars, such as a local improvement district that collects a sales tax.
Rosier does sees challenges in what he hears from area residents who would rather keep tourism out of their community.
“I’ve heard from everyone, and sometimes you have these competing interests,” he said.
The 285 Tourism Bus tours are not just targeting outsiders who may not know what businesses in the area have to offer, Trilk said. There are .
“Our goal is also always to keep that awareness and education piece with the residents, too, of, ‘Hey, there are some really great businesses here,’ ” she said. “You can find almost anything you need here.”
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com or @JosieKlemaier
285 tourism bus
Go to the event’s Facebook page at . For more information or to reserve a spot, e-mail sharont@my mountaintown.com or call 720-608-0285.
