The asphalt on First Street in Parachute is cracked and tired

Grand Junction —The asphalt on First Street in Parachute is cracked and tired. Water pools in the gutters after every rain, sitting there because the drainage system can’t keep up. It’s a quiet stretch of road tucked between the Interstate 70 rest area and Billiter Avenue, but it’s also the town’s main artery. And right now, that artery is clogged with standing water and missed opportunities.

Parachute wants to fix it. The town is asking Garfield County for $600,000 to kick off the first phase of a much larger rebuild.

Town Manager Travis Elliott and Mayor Tom Rugaard made the request before Garfield County commissioners on Oct. 5. They aren’t asking for a handout; they’re asking for a match to unlock a $10.7 million project called Parachute MOVES. The short version: the town needs money to fix a road that splits the community in half, and they need it now.

The scope is specific. The project covers First Street from Green Street, near the I-70 rest area, to Billiter Avenue. The work includes replacing deteriorating pavement, upgrading drainage, installing sidewalks, and improving lighting and landscaping. It’s not just a repave job. Elliott described it as an effort to create a true downtown destination for locals and travelers alike.

The geography is the problem. When I-70 was built, it cut through Parachute’s historic core. It took out the old Main Street and left a scar that still defines how people move through town today.

Elliott pointed out the raw numbers during the meeting. More than 70,000 people use the rest area toilets every year. About 184,000 vehicles travel through that corridor annually. Most of them stop for a bathroom break or a quick coffee, then get right back on the highway. They don’t look at the town. They don’t spend money in it.

“We think with the reconfiguration of the rest area and some of these improvements, we can actually tap into a lot more of that potential by attracting visitors downtown,” Elliott said.

The town has already secured $3 million in federal Congressionally Directed Spending funding. They’ve also committed $600,000 of their own budget to the project. That leaves a gap. The federal money has a two-year spending deadline, which creates real pressure to close the funding loop before the window shuts.

Parachute is chasing other grants, including one from the Federal Mineral Lease District and another from the U.S. Department of Transportation. They also planned to apply for a federal PROTECT grant worth approximately $5 million, with a deadline of Oct. 9. Elliott admitted that federal transportation dollars are competitive and hard to win. Even if they land that grant, the town still needs a local match.

The request to Garfield County is for $600,000. That’s the piece that could trigger the rest of the funding stack. Without it, the project stalls. With it, the town can start moving dirt on a corridor that has been neglected for decades.

Garfield County commissioners will have to decide if they’re willing to put up that match. They’ll likely look at the tax base, the cost of maintaining aging infrastructure, and whether a small town’s downtown upgrade is worth county-level investment.

The town adopted a downtown development plan in 2023 and established an urban renewal authority in 2024. The paperwork is done. The vision is set. Now they need the cash to break ground.

If the county says no, Parachute is left with a two-year clock ticking down on federal funds and a road that keeps flooding. The question isn’t whether the project is needed. It’s whether Garfield County will help pay for it before the deadline expires.