Traffic on HIghway 160 was reduced to one lane yesterday and today for the wildlife underpass construction project.
The one-lane restrictions is from mile point 96.90 and will end at mile point 97.40.
"The one-lane configuration will begin at 9 a.m. and could possibly go into the early evening commute," the Colorado Department of Transportation said in a press release Wednesday. "All efforts are being done to open the road back to two-lane operations by 5 p.m." Once construction gets underway, the speed limit will be reduced to 40 mph during work hours.
Aside from this repair work, daily lane closures are not anticipated until the end of the project, when the new alignment is tied to the existing road. For more information or to ask questions, please contact the contractor's public information line at (970) 828-2897.
The Colorado Department of Transportation began the project in July to construct a wildlife underpass at US 160 at Dry Creek, about five miles east of State Highway 172 at Elmore's Corner. The contractor for the $6.5 million project is Crossfire LLC, and the work is expected to be completed by May 2016, following a winter suspension.
The project will create a large animal underpass with a pre-cast concrete arch structure and a natural earth bottom. This arch span bridge will be 37 feet wide and 13 feet high.
Once construction is complete, the two-lane detour alignment will be fenced off but will remain in place to accommodate future widening from two to four lanes, as called for in the US 160 Environmental Impact Statement or EIS. The roadway above the underpass will remain a single lane in each direction with widened 10-foot shoulders. Crews will install some 10,700 linear feet of wildlife fencing and eight wildlife escape ramps.
This underpass is the first of 24 large-animal crossings recommended in the US 160 EIS between Durango and Bayfield. In addition, small mammal crossings are recommended every 1,000 feet. Wildlife features were identified in the EIS in coordination with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
