CDOT to focus on North Valley, 135 next year

Striping, rumble strips and shoulder maintenance

By Katherine Nettles

The future for Highway 135 is looking bright as the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) recently informed Gunnison County commissioners they are budgeting $7 million for improvements starting in 2027. In an annual update to county commissioners, several CDOT representatives reported on the agency’s various county, regional and state priorities.

Gunnison County is part of CDOT’s Region 3 which also covers several other counties such as Eagle, Moffat, Garfield and Summit. The proposed 10-year plan overview for the region includes 45 projects and $132 million in fund allocations through 2030; capital improvement projects in Gunnison County include $7 million for Highway 135, beginning in 2027.

Gunnison County will be receiving attention in the way of highway maintenance, as there is $2 million in state funds allocated to add rumble strips, center lines and shoulder striping, with guard rails, safety improvements and signage throughout all of Highway 135 as the county has requested, in the next four years. Another $5 million is planned for other projects along 135, to be determined. CDOT also plans to finish final repairs to the Highway 50 bridges in 2027, including painting, reinforcements and replacing rocker bearings.

County public works director Martin Schmidt passed along feedback that striping is a concern in the North Valley, from CB South into Crested Butte including the acceleration/deceleration lanes. “As you move north, the plowing—which didn’t happen much this year, does do a lot of damage to the striping. I know you got a lot of letters from the North Valley last year, and the county is also concerned about that,” he said.

Commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels said she thinks the rumble strips will make a huge safety difference on Highway 135 as well.

Puckett Daniels mentioned the $15 million in federal funds Gunnison County was awarded to aid in constructing three roundabouts within the North Valley, and there was extensive discussion of how best to get matches for those federal funds, whether from the county itself or from CDOT. Commissioners asked if some previously allocated state funding might be reduced or delayed with continued state budget cuts, and Puckett Daniels noted how complicated and confusing it is to navigate the state and federal mechanism for funds and match requirements. The answer she got was that a highly leveraged project like the roundabouts is prioritized at all levels, even if funding gets cut elsewhere. Region 3 leaders said that the agency is shuffling its funds around to cover things as well as possible, and working to at least keep projects in the queue even if they are delivered later than originally forecast.

Mark Rogers, CDOT regional planning manager, applauded the county’s efforts to better fund road and bridges with a ballot question to increase sales tax this fall. He said it is a growing conversation among other counties in Region 3 as well. “The pie continues to shrink over time,” he said of the state funding mechanisms. “I wish that all counties would discuss the deferred maintenance.” He noted that the cost of materials is going up, “and the money we’re bringing in [with Highway Users Tax Funds] is from the 1990s.” Rogers said the roads in Region 3 are increasingly degrading, and annual reports show more entering the category of ‘poor road condition,’ each year as HUTF funding affects the state budget as well.

There are four maintenance patrols assigned to Gunnison (with two positions vacant) and two assigned to Crested Butte (with one vacant). CDOT’s regional representatives explained some recent highway camera outages used on the CoTrip platform, as a previous vendor took down 136 cameras at the end of their contract last year and opted not to renew. CDOT is now working to secure a state-owned highway alert notice system that functions 24/7 in several languages, particularly during severe weather events on critical roadways. CDOT is in the meantime upgrading or replacing up to 69 “critical cameras” in the next two years.

Commissioner Jonathan Houck emphasized the importance of the Cerro camera which was one of the casualties on Highway 50. “The amount of travel between Montrose and Gunnison, that camera is a strong resource for the community,” he said, as people travel that route for doctor visits and other critical needs and road conditions on Cerro are very different than on either the Montrose or Gunnison side of it. He asked that the camera be replaced as soon as possible.

  Last, Puckett Daniels highlighted two other priorities for Gunnison County: to get Bustang service to Montrose, and to get wildlife crossings, if not yet funded, at least “listed as a priority,” by CDOT to help the county go for federal grants. CDOT leaders said they could not promise anything, but that they would take all the commissioners’ input back to agency headquarters with them.