WORK BEGINS NEXT WEEK ON STATE HIGHWAY 119 IN BLACK HAWK

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), in coordination with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Silver Dollar Metropolitan District (SDMD), and a number of other agencies have designed and funded this project in order to widen SH 119 from two to four lanes and straighten approximately one mile of highway using a bridge structure over the north fork of Clear Creek. Other improvements include a bike/pedestrian path and bridge, creek side retaining walls and rock slope cuts, intersection reconstruction at Douglas Mountain Drive and six miles of paving from the reconstruction end‐point to the U.S. 6 junction. Work involves rock mitigation which will require blasting during the first phase of the project. The rock will be reused by ACC to remediate the mining impacts of this Superfund* site while stabilizing the shoreline of the creek.

The work is scheduled to begin Monday November 29, 2010 at 3:00 a.m. and will continue to August 2012. The first phase of the project widens the work area by blasting rock. Crews will then begin working in the north fork of Clear Creek remediating the superfund site and stabilizing the creek shoreline while waterflows remain low. Crews anticipate beginning the bridge structure mid‐summer 2011, with simultaneous work on the road construction. Final paving of SH 119 will occur in 2012.

Traffic Impacts: ACC’s crews are scheduled to work from 3:00 a.m.‐2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. This work will require single lane closures during work hours with alternating traffic flows and potential wait times of 10 minutes. On mornings when blasting is taking place, traffic delays may extend to 20 minutes between sunrise and 9 a.m.

Funding for SH 119 was made possible by CDOT, the City of Black Hawk, Gilpin County, EPA, , CDPHE and Colorado FASTER. FASTER (Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery), , is the legislation developed to address Colorado’s 125 structurally deficient bridges and safety projects throughout the state and is protected from redirection into other State programs during a budget crunch. FASTER is funded through a daily rental car fee and a nominal increase in vehicle registration.

For information on this project, the public may contact ACC’s public information office at 303‐730‐4522 or sign‐up for weekly updates and traffic alerts at [email protected]. Alternatively, you may learn more about the project at http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/sh119mainstreetsouth . For information on other CDOT projects statewide visit www.cotrip.org or call 511. Thank you for going Slow for the Cone Zone!

###

*Superfund is an EPA program that cleans up abandoned waste sites. The Clear Creek/Central City Superfund site addresses historic mining in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties. Mining‐related heavy metals impair Clear Creek and North Clear Creek, affecting fish and other aquatic life, but not human health.