CDOT approves Tracks Across Borders Scenic and Historic Byway

Special to The SUN

The Tracks Across Borders Scenic and Historic Byway (TABB) was officially designated as Colorado’s newest scenic and historic byway by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in its meeting on April 16 — the first byway to be added to Colorado’s Scenic Byways since 2005. New Mexico’s State Transportation Commission is expected to approve a corresponding New Mexico byway designation on May 21.

The byway route will follow the old route of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) that ran between Durango and Chama, N.M., until the late 1960s, highlighting one of Colorado’s greatest stories — the creation and development of the D&RG, the state’s first and, ultimately, the nation’s largest narrow gauge railroad system. The route passes through two reservations (the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Southern Ute tribal lands), two states (Colorado and New Mexico) and three counties (Rio Arriba, Archuleta and La Plata).