The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We need a viable highway route by winter”
By Katherine Nettles
As a safety closure continues for the Middle Bridge on US Highway 50 at Blue Mesa Reservoir west of Gunnison and repair work has now begun on the adjacent Lake Fork bridge, alternate routes to the west of Gunnison are showing signs of impact but continue to hold up as summer winds downs. Gunnison County public works director Martin Schmidt says the important thing is that travelers comply with current restrictions so that the highway can reopen before the seasonal roads must be closed for winter.
Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) closed the Middle Bridge in mid-April at the recommendation of the Federal Highway Administration and state bridge engineering experts when a safety inspection identified anomalies in the bridge. Then this summer engineers found anomalies on the Lake Fork bridge as well, which is of the same era and steel composition.
Schmidt told the Crested Butte News this week that the detour routes of County Road 26 (CR 26) and Kebler Pass Road are under pressure, but overall vehicular traffic has been respectful and compliant.
This week, CDOT also opened the Middle Bridge to through traffic for an additional two hours each day to reduce the need for detours daily from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. and from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
“Now instead of four hours we have six hours [of openings],” said Schmidt. “CDOT and the contractor worked hard to get these hours in there and still maintain their construction schedule.”
Schmidt noted that during those bridge openings, commercial vehicles and vehicles that weigh more than 16,000 pounds must still use CR 26. He explained the reason for this, and for cars being piloted across. “There has been a lot of consternation on the bridge speed and weight limits. There has been an exponential difference in the vibrations from heavier and faster vehicles. You get into some complex engineering pretty rapidly, so to minimize the vibrations you need to go slow.”
Meanwhile, CDOT seems to be hitting its targets for the construction schedule to finish all repairs on both bridges by late fall.
“We are going to see traffic control on the Lake Fork bridge for the remainder of summer and fall,” confirmed Schmidt. “Mid-November is the current time frame for it to finish.”
Schmidt said CR # 26 is definitely showing signs of wear and tear. “Actually, we are hoping these openings will slow down the degradation on CR # 26. We’re pushing the outer limits of what that road is designed for.”
That includes about 700-1,000 cars per day on a road that normally sees such numbers over a period of several months. It is still under a maintenance contract with Kiewet Construction under CDOT, but CR 26 will return to county maintenance after the bridges are repaired.
“Kebler is going pretty well,” continued Schmidt. “We ‘re seeing really high traffic counts, between 1,100-1,800 cars per day. In the past we would see maybe 1,700 cars per day for four to six days of the season and right now that is sustained every day. We feel Kebler is taking a lot of additional traffic. And this is even without allowing vehicles more than 50 feet long or 30,000 pounds to reduce damage to the roadway, as since 2021.”
Schmidt says these detour roads are seeing some speeding motorists but also seeing people going slow and taking their time. “Kind of like roadways around the state. Most people are following the rules; a minority are not.”
Kebler received one major gravel haul in the spring, and has received magnesium chloride applications twice with plans to maybe add a third application in four to six weeks. “Normally we only do it once with spot treatments later. Instead of 1.5 applications of mag chloride in a year, we’re looking at probably 3.5 times this year,” said Schmidt.
“It’s been a good relief valve to have this high mountain pass. Once these bridges are back in service, we are looking at a normal use. We feel pretty strongly because of geography and the high elevation that it’s an ideal high mountain scenic gravel route. There are no plans for further improvement to Kebler in the future,” said Schmidt.
Gunnison County does plan to plow Kebler and CR 26 as snow begins to fall in smaller increments, but that is not likely to last longer than it normally would.
“Realistically CR 26 and Kebler are not going to be able to sustain throughout the winter, so we need a viable highway route by winter,” he concluded.
