WORK READY – Paving equipment has already been lined up at the temporary CDOT staging area adjacent to Highway 550 near Ridgway. (Photo by Gus Jarvis)
The projects are possibly the second in Colorado and the first on the Western Slope to be started using federal stimulus money, said CDOT Region 5 Public Information Officer Nancy Shanks on Tuesday.
“The first project to receive stimulus money will begin in Denver on May 18 and this one is quickly on its tail,” Shanks said. The total project cost for the two segments of highway will cost $11.7 million with $4 million of that coming from Economic Recovery Act funds. (The rest of the project will be funded by CDOT’s Region 5 resurfacing fund.) “This is the first project on the Western Slope to start using stimulus money.”
According to CDOT Project Manager Devin Ray, the construction on Dallas Divide will last until the beginning of October. A combined 90,000 tons of asphalt are to be but down in both projects, which measures out to close to 100-120 truck loads of asphalt coming into the area every day. Paving on Dallas Divide will occur from mile marker 22 to within a half-mile of the Placerville intersection.
County Road and Bridge Supervisor Chris Miller notified the Ouray Board of County Commissioners of the paving projects and expressed concern that commuters may use County Road 24 to bypass the construction. The concern prompted the commissioners to direct Miller and Sheriff Dominic “Junior” Mattivi to seek out solutions on what should be done to mitigate the impact if CR 24 is used as a bypass.
“I hadn’t thought of what kind of pressure this would put on 24,” Commissioner Keith Meinert said. “If that is expected to be an issue, and I don’t know exactly what the project is going to look like, come up with a plan or suggestions to the extent that we need to make some decisions on changing speed limits, water bars or something.”
He added that maybe the county could get CDOT to put more magnesium chloride on CR 24 to keep the dust down if it sees increased use.
CDOT officials on Wednesday morning did not have a road closure/delay schedule available on the two projects, but Orange cones and the smell of asphalt are coming to stay for a while. “They are going to be here all summer,” Miller said.
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