A popular access to the Roan Plateau could be closed, if a recently-begun study recommends the move.

The JQS Road, a narrow, winding, single-lane dirt road that snakes its way about 10 miles across public and private property, from Colorado Highway 13 to the top of the Roan Plateau, is the subject of a Colorado Department of Transportation access study.

Garfield County Commissioner John Martin said the county is involved in the study, which could see public access to the Roan shifted from the JQS Road to the road to Fravert Reservoir. That road is further south on the Highway 13 bypass in Rifle.

Off-road vehicles and mountain bikers, the majority of those who use the JQS Road, would have to use the much-longer road to reach the plateau instead.

The lower section of the JQS Road is heavily used by motorcyclists and four-wheelers, said Gary Miller of Rifle.

“I’d hate to see what might happen if they close that access,” he said.

The road to Fravert Reservoir is less convenient for cyclists and four-wheelers, Miller said.

Transportation Department Region 3 Access Manager Dan Roussin said the agency tries to limit access points to state highways, and the JQS Road access goes down a steep slope, crosses a creek and then goes up a hill.

“It isn’t the greatest access point now,” Roussin said. “You come at it at a skewed angle and it’s probably not the most ideal place to have access, due to the limited vision.”

Roussin said the access plan will also help private property owners in the area know where they can get to and from their land.

“Rifle is growing, it’s almost the number one town in Garfield County,” he said. “You’ve got some housing developments and we have to consider transportation and safety concerns and issues.”

The access control study will last at least a year, Roussin said.

Contact Mike McKibbin at 384-9170 or by E-mail at mmckibbin@citizentelegram.com.