Installation of Ignacio's downtown stoplight was supposed to start after Labor Day, but that's not happening.

Acting Town Manager Kirk Phillips gave the news to town trustees on Aug. 19. The Colorado Department of Transportation didn't get any bids from contractors, he said.

Town development coordinator Dan Naiman commented, "They put it out (for bids) too late. All the qualified people were booked up."

CDOT spokeswoman Nancy Shanks confirmed the lack of bids when the project was advertised in July. "A lot of contractors are working right now," she said. "We'll re-advertise on Oct. 22 when contractors have wrapped up their summer work. They would have the winter to prepare and maybe start in February if the weather allows."

The project is set for 75 working days, she said. The goal is to finish before Memorial Day and summer traffic.

CDOT had completed surveys and started design work as of June 2014. The design reflects the 2011 Ignacio Corridor Access Plan for the Highway 172/ 151 intersection, one of the busiest in the county. Ute Street will become one way going west from the intersection to the Wells Fargo Bank driveway, and six diagonal parking spaces will be added on each side of Ute Street. It will be a net gain of parking spaces, CDOT engineer Mike McVaugh said back then.

There will be sidewalk "bulb-outs" at the corner, making a shorter distance for pedestrians to cross. McVaugh told trustees in June 2014 that the design would consider large trucks turning do deliver goods to the new grocery store.

The plan doesn't include left turn lanes because of the effect on parking. McVaugh said in June 2014 that a left turn lane might be added on Hwy. 151 at some point, but that wouldn't affect any parking spaces.

The project budget as of June 2014 was $1.8 million, with $1.43 million of that paid by a CDOT RAMP grant. The town share is $10,000, and the county and Southern Ute Indian Tribe are each supposed to pay $180,000.