Additional release times for CR 26 start Friday

Kebler Pass opening at least two weeks out

[  by Katherine Nettles  ]

With the Highway 50 Middle Bridge at Blue Mesa Reservoir under indefinite closure for repair, all eyes are on both County Road 26 (CR 26) and Kebler Pass Road as main alternatives to get between Gunnison County and neighboring areas to the west for at least the next few months. Gunnison County officials are working with Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to add more time slots for allowing traffic through CR 26 during the day beginning Friday, but Kebler Pass remains a major work in progress as the county public works department battles ongoing bouts of winter weather conditions on the high mountain pass. 

Crews have been working to better prepare CR 26 as a bypass for heavier traffic, and CDOT and the county confirmed on Tuesday that additional openings will start Friday, May 3. 

“We are working with stakeholders to safely add additional release times through CR 26,” said Gunnison County public works director Martin Schmidt.

CR 26 will be open for 30 minutes in either direction early morning, at midday, in the evening and at night (see sidebar on page 8 for details). Traffic will still be managed using a pilot vehicle. No other public traffic will be allowed outside of those times, and the bypass will not be open to commercial vehicles more than 16,000 GVWR (Gross vehicle weight rating). Prohibited vehicles and vehicles coming through at other times are directed to use the detours along Interstate 70 or Colorado Highway 160 to travel between Gunnison and Montrose, which takes approximately six hours or more.

Meanwhile, the Gunnison County public works crews are doing all they can to open Kebler but it may still be another few weeks depending on the weather. According to Schmidt about a foot of snow fell on Kebler over the weekend, setting back some of the progress road crews made there last week.

 “We finished plowing and let the snow fall over the weekend,” says Schmidt. He said crews returned to plow it again Monday morning, and it will still be a few weeks before the full length of the road is ready for travelers. 

“The storm slowed the melting and drying on the road, keeping the surface susceptible to damage from vehicles. We are working hard to fix winter damage and get the road in good condition before we open it to the public,” he said.

 Schmidt reported that while the financial impact of Highway 50’s bridge closure on Gunnison County is not entirely accounted for yet, the county has already spent about $64,000 on the response about two weeks into the emergency disaster declaration made on April 18. That is largely for CR 26 improvements.

“Some of the work on Kebler was already planned as part of our typical approach to opening the pass. CDOT’s involvement with three [snow] blowers and staff was the ‘added’ cost to opening this year,” said Schmidt.

“On CR 26, all of the work was additive to our typical approach,” he said of the extensive road work crews are doing to enable CR 26 to withstand much heavier traffic than it is designed for. Currently traffic is allowed to flow through CR26 once each morning and once each evening, with crews working to improve the roadway during the time in between. 

“Not all bills are in, but we have spent about $64,000 on CR 26 for this incident so far, and usually would have spent about $10,000 annually on this road,” said Schmidt.

 Efforts by some members of the public to take it upon themselves and privately plow and drive County Road 25 (Blue Mesa cutoff) caused some additional problems for work crews. 

“CR 25 is not supposed to have cross traffic this time of year, but it was plowed and people were sharing combinations or leaving gates open. The driving and plowing damaged the road,” said Schmidt. “Initially we saw damage to gates, locks and signage, but have not seen any over the last five days.”

CR 25 is usually closed until May 15, but it is common that snow keeps it closed longer, he said. “We have no timeline for opening CR 25 this year.”

As far as the closed bridge itself, CDOT officials said crews are making progress on the inspection of the US Highway 50 bridge. Lightweight scaffolding is now in place on the center span of the bridge to aid workers in safely and more easily reaching the underside of the bridge.

During this inspection process, CDOT reports that additional areas of concern have been found since the Middle Bridge closed on April 18. Results from ultrasonic testing will determine the severity of these concerns and the specific repairs that may be needed. CDOT says they are working through multiple repair scenarios that are each being refined as testing is completed.

More information and updates can be found at www.gunnisoncounty.org/1078/Hwy-50-Bridge-Closure

To sign up for text or email updates on all Gunnison County roadwork messaging, visit www.gunnisoncounty.org/list.aspx.

 

CR 26 piloted release times beginning May 3: 

• 6:30 to 7:00 a.m. for westbound travel beginning at CO 149 and CR 26.

• 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. for eastbound travel beginning at US 50 and CR 26.

• Noon to 12:30 p.m. for westbound travel beginning at CO 149 and CR 26.

• 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. for eastbound travel beginning at US 50 and CR 26.

• 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. for westbound travel beginning at CO 149 and CR 26.

• 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. for eastbound travel beginning at US 50 and CR 26.

• 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. for westbound travel beginning at CO 149 and CR 26.

• 9:30 to 10:00 p.m. for eastbound travel beginning at US 50 and CR 26.