Forest Service wants a small business to rebuild Robinette Road near Hope by next fall

The U.S. Forest Service wants a small business to rebuild Robinette Road, a 1.5-mile forest road near Hope, by the end of October 2027.

The work is for the agency's Cripple Creek Vegetation Management project, according to the solicitation posted Tuesday. Neither the solicitation nor its plans describe that project.

The road starts near the Hope Point Trail, about a quarter mile up Bob Mathewson Lane from the Hope Highway, according to the plans.

Crews would clear trees and brush to leave 14 feet of overhead clearance, realign a switchback and strip out organic and unsuitable material. They would reinforce the roadbed with rock where the Forest Service marks it. Logs good enough to sell remain government property and must be stacked.

To drain water off the road, crews would build or rebuild 12 armored dips, shallow rock-reinforced crossings that let water run across it, and water bars, angled cuts that turn water off the road.

The base contract gets the road ready for gravel. Laying about 5,300 cubic yards of it on Robinette Road and the 0.31-mile Robinette Spur, and grading the spur, are options the Forest Service can add.

Disturbed ground must be seeded and mulched, and rock and seed must come from commercial sources certified weed-free.

Proposals are due Dec. 4, and the Forest Service will choose based on price.