Summer road construction in Durango is in full swing as city, state and energy companies delve into road and utility improvement projects.
With orange cones, traffic jams and detours, construction projects have cropped up around the city. Just in June, bulldozers, milling machines and more rolled onto Florida Road, U.S. Highway 160 near the DoubleTree hotel and into residential areas around town. The goal is to update infrastructure and increase safety – and more summer projects are coming down the road.
“These projects are designed to maintain and prolong the life of existing infrastructure in accordance with the city of Durango’s strategic plan,” said Levi Lloyd, director of city operations.
The city of Durango’s current project is repaving a 1.6-mile section of Florida Road in northeast Durango, from the Riverview roundabout near Chapman Hill to just past East Animas Road (County Road 250).
The mill and overlay project is the first repaving project for that section of road since its reconstruction in 2010-11, Lloyd said in past interviews
In the short term, the construction has meant delays for drivers on the two-lane road, which sees an average of 10,604 vehicle trips per day.
By the time it wraps up July 23, the completed project will include improvements for the road’s surface, fixed manholes and water valves so they align with the road surface, and a longer lifespan for the existing pavement.
That’s not the only city project planned for the summer: Work will start Thursday on streets in northeast Durango near Hillcrest Drive and in Three Springs east of Durango. The seal-coat project is scheduled to finish in mid-August.
Street overlays, reconstructions and alley constructions are also planned this year. The alley construction will take place near 28th Street, 29th Street and in Bodo Industrial Park.
In total, the city’s projects will cost about $3.3 million, drawn from a half-cent sales tax increase voters approved in 2019, Lloyd said.
The projects, he said, were identified in the streets capital improvements plan, which is informed by a 2018 pavement condition survey.
But the city isn’t the only entity ripping up roads in Durango.
In May and June, Atmos Energy began work in the neighborhood around Eighth Street and East Eighth Avenue, east of downtown Durango, and around Chapman Hill.
“Atmos Energy is investing millions of dollars in Durango and throughout Colorado to modernize our natural gas delivery network while also decreasing our carbon footprint,” said Kurtis Paradisa, Atmos Energy public affairs manager, in an email to The Durango Herald. “We are committed to reducing our environmental impact while meeting the growing demand for natural gas throughout La Plata County by offering a safe, affordable and reliable energy source.”
The neighborhood project is expected to end in October, and the work around Chapman Hill should wrap up in August, Paradisa said.
Then, the Colorado Department of Transportation launched a project on U.S. Highway 160, west of the DoubleTree hotel in early May. The project tackled a 2-mile concrete section of highway, with single-lane closures during weekdays for drivers.
The goal is to grind up the concrete surface of the highway to increase traction for vehicles, said Lisa Schwantes, CDOT spokeswoman.
“Obviously, a concrete surface, once it gets driven on for years, gets too smooth,” Schwantes said. “We need to add this ‘corduroy’ surface so it adds more traction for vehicles. When we have wet, icy weather elements, it will help vehicles and drivers maintain more control of their vehicle.”
The “diamond grind” process will wrap up in late July, but CDOT will continue with its annual summer road striping and maintenance projects, Schwantes said.
“If it was an asphalt surface, we would be coming in every six years to completely redo the surface,” she said. “Concrete is a little bit more expensive, but it allows us a longer lifespan. ... It’s a much better bang for the buck.”
smullane@durangoherald.com
An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect date of the Florida Road reconstruction. Incorrect information was given to the Herald.
