Unable to bite the bullet when it came time to suggest its priorities for expenditures by the Grand County Special Transportation Service District the Grand County Council deferred to the Grand County Road Department.

A brief discussion revealed that constituents of every member had a different idea about top priorities. The outcome was a split vote to pass a priority list prepared by Bill Jackson, supervisor of the Grand County Road Department.

Council members Audrey Graham, Bob Greenberg, and Gene Ciarus voted against the motion.

“The council making its priorities keeps the citizens in the loop,” said Graham, who represents the council on the district board. She recalled that when the district was established by the council its members agreed to suggest the council’s priorities to the district board.

While state code prevents the council from dictating to the board, a priority list from the council would prevent the district from going its own way as a previous roads district did when it attempted to fund a highway through the Book Cliffs, Graham said.

“[Jackson’s list] is a living breathing document that can be changed,” council member Ken Ballantyne said after he made the motion to stick with Jackson’s priorities.

The last items on Jackson’s list include the repair of a bicycle trail near the entrance to Arches National Park and the repair of a defective concrete landing on the bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the Colorado Bridge.

The discussion revealed contention over inclusion of bike lanes in the district’s responsibilities during the council deliberations that established the district. At that time, Jackson made it clear that the roads district was needed to allow the use of mineral lease funds to build and maintain roads so that road district funds could be used to replace an aging fleet of road machinery. He asserted that trail maintenance would take funds away from needed road work.

“I don’t understand why we would want to leave any [item on Jackson’s list] out,” said council member Chris Baird.

Graham said that the district now has about $204,000 and will receive another $25,000 in mineral lease funds this year. Jackson’s list adds up to a need for several million dollars. A few months ago, when the council approved purchase of a used road grader for nearly $200,000, Jackson noted that was just the beginning of equipment replacement.

The list starts out with three relatively inexpensive chip seal projects followed by a $225,000 repair to Overlook Road and a multi-million dollar widening of Kane Creek Road with bike lanes. After that is a $1 million asphalt overlay on Spanish Valley Drive.

Restoration of the La Sal Loop Road, construction of a connecting road between Spanish Valley Drive and U.S. 191, and paving along Sand Flats Road were also included on the list, although none of those projects listed associated costs.

The list of projects also includes work on the Entrada Ranch Road, priced at $450,000, and the Fisher Towers Road, priced at $250,000. Repairs to Old Highway 6 and U.S. 50 are listed without a cost estimate.

Bridge and culvert projects, with a price tag of $3.95 million, are also on the list.

The final items on the list are $20,000 for bike lane repairs near Arches National Park and the repair of the pedestrian bridge landing on state Route 128, the cost of which is unknown at this time, county officials said.