For more than a century, the railroad that put Palmer Lake on the map also cut the town off from it. When the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway laid track along the lake's eastern edge in 1887, it created a barrier that never went away — anyone walking from downtown to the water had to cross active freight tracks to get there, on what's now a shared "Joint Line" run by Union Pacific and BNSF Railway.
Awake Palmer Lake set out to fix that. Over nearly a decade of fundraising and negotiation with the railroads, the nonprofit — alongside the Town of Palmer Lake, the Palmer Lake Restoration Committee, and hundreds of private donors — put together a project budget of roughly $750,000, anchored by a $349,893 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado covering about 70% of the cost.
The result, engineered from a genuine piece of railroad history, is a 90-foot, 8-foot-wide bridge deck built from a repurposed railroad flatbed car and hoisted 25 feet into the air in a single lift on January 7, 2020. Staircases and ADA-accessible ramps on both ends carry walkers, cyclists, strollers, and wheelchairs safely over the tracks — free, and open every day.
More than infrastructure, the bridge has become Palmer Lake's newest landmark. The Palmer Lake Troll now watches over the water from beneath its span, and the hand-painted panels of the Train Art Project line its railing — turning the very thing that once divided this town from its lake into the place where the whole community comes together.
This project was completed thanks to community support. Help fund our next one.
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The Gazette covers the installation of Palmer Lake's new pedestrian bridge, built from a repurposed railroad flatbed car and funded by a Great Outdoors Colorado grant, Awake Palmer Lake fundraising, and the Town of Palmer Lake.
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KRDO reports on the bridge's installation day, capping nearly a decade of work with Union Pacific and BNSF Railway to create a safe crossing over the tracks separating downtown Palmer Lake from its namesake lake.
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KOAA News5 covers the community celebration as the bridge — funded in part by a Great Outdoors Colorado grant — is hoisted into place, restoring safe access to Palmer Lake's namesake body of water.
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The finished bridge deck — a repurposed 90-foot railroad flatbed car — is hoisted 25 feet into the air and set into place over the tracks in a single lift, opening safe passage between Highway 105 and the lake for the first time.
Awake Palmer Lake finalizes years of negotiation with Union Pacific and BNSF Railway and secures the last of the funding — including a $349,893 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado — to begin construction.
The Santa Fe and Denver & Rio Grande railroads are ordered to consolidate onto a shared double-track "Joint Line" through Palmer Lake — the same tracks the bridge crosses today.
The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway reaches Palmer Lake and lays track along the lake's eastern edge, creating the barrier between town and water that the bridge would take over a century to solve.
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