Red Mountain Pass is beginning its third week of closure as crews continue mitigation work after a major rockslide. With a major snowstorm predicted for Wednesday, officials with the Colorado Department of Transportation expect U.S. Highway 550 through the pass to remain closed for at least the rest of the week.
Crews began installing netting to stabilize the talus field, with eight panels Sunday and nine Monday. They are planning to install the final seven panels today, for a total of 24. That is anticipated to be all that is needed, said Nancy Shanks, the spokeswoman for CDOT.
In the meantime, a great deal of the debris below the area where the netting is being installed has been brought down each day, so the slope is more stable.
“It’s amazing, the transformation of that slope,” CDOT Maintenance Area Supervisor Vance Kelso said. “It’s completely different than the first days of this slide.”
Weather forecasters are predicting 16½ inches of snow on Red Mountain Pass on Wednesday, so the work may shift from rockslides to snowslides. Workers, who will need to assess the safety of the area after the netting is installed before opening the pass, are uncertain as to how much mitigation work, if any, can be done then.
More information will be available after the storm passes, Shanks said.
In the meantime, drivers planning to drive north on U.S. Highway 550 should plan to take the alternate route through Mancos, Dolores, Rico and Ridgway. They should check www.cotrip.org for road conditions over Lizard Head Pass, which is on the alternate route.
abutler@durangoherald.com
