Colorado Voices
Here’s what drivers in Gunnison County have to say about the Highway 50 bridge closure
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A federal inspection found serious safety issues with the bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir.
After a federal inspection found serious safety issues with the bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir, the Colorado Department of Transportation closed Highway 50. Through traffic must now detour six to seven hours out of the way, and local drivers must traverse a gravel county road at set times each day with a pilot car.
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Colorado Voices is a local public television program presented by RMPBS
Colorado Voices
Here’s what drivers in Gunnison County have to say about the Highway 50 bridge closure
Clip | 3m 50sVideo has Closed Captions
After a federal inspection found serious safety issues with the bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir, the Colorado Department of Transportation closed Highway 50. Through traffic must now detour six to seven hours out of the way, and local drivers must traverse a gravel county road at set times each day with a pilot car.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipWell, we own ranch here in Powderhorn.
We own one on Kannah Creek down by Grand Junction.
And this is where we summer, and that's where we winter.
So we haul our all the cows up every spring and back every fall.
After that bridge closed, they said they weren't going allow us to bring trailers or semis or anything on this road and they finally changed their mind.
I guess they got enough pressure CDOT closed the bridge over the Blue Mesa Reservoir between Montrose and Gunnison.
at the urging of the Federal Highway Administration and state bridge engineering experts due to the findings of the ongoing safety inspection.
Bridges are required to have an inspection every two years.
This is a bridge that was built with what's called T1 steel because of the inspection and what they found, it closed the bridge.
So when they were doing the inspection, the initial inspection, they found some some critical cracks in the bridge.
The recommended detour route for through traffic is via Interstate 70 to the north or U.S. one, 60 to the south.
The northern route requires about 6 hours of travel time.
The southern route requires nearly 7 hours of travel time.
We've partnered with Gunnison County and prioritized getting a shorter access route in place for local travelers.
on County Road 26. pilot cars are leading passenger vehicles through the detour, in each direction.
You never get everything done on a ranch, plenty to do.
Yesterday we sat here for two hours.
Today we went did some irrigation long enough that we only going to sit here for an hour luckily it's not too bad because our permits only down the road about another ten, 15 miles where we dump out.
So normally we come up the other way, you know, cross the bridges and and then turn around and go back.
So we're doing more or less the same thing and it's actually just cut off road, maybe even just slightly shorter.
Of course, it's gravel and it's a little harder on tires.
And, you know, you got to burn more fuel going slower, too.
But it's pretty good road, though.
There's lot more vehicles traveling County Road 26, working with, Gunnison County Public Works and CDOT to get the improvements made to 26 so that there is some type of transit capability in and out of Gunnison between Gunnison and Montrose.
I live in Gunnison.
I'm taking my son to the orthodontist in Montrose.
We love Gunnison and, you know, it's a small town and it lives in the middle, We live in the middle of nowhere So this is one of the advantages disadvantages, I guess.
I'm in the medical field as well so I think that has been one of the hugest impacts for us would be just transport time for us getting our patients to Montrose, Grand Junction getting those people that need to visit you know, family members, their friends have services that they require, like dialysis, things like that are all just pretty critical.
Right now, what we're doing and what the state is doing and Gunnison County are doing are the most realistic and viable options, we're still keeping traffic piloted at the 30, 35 mile an hour speeds.
Making sure that it's not just a free for all and it's done in a coordinated manner.
It is a county road.
It's not an improved highway.
In between the piloted times the contractor is actually going back and continuing to make those road improvements where it needs to happen.
Who knows how long that bridge is going to take.
I don't think they know because they don't really know what all is wrong with it.
I'd love to see it done within six months.
But if it's a couple of years, I wouldn't be entirely surprised.
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