FASTER Bridge Project Set to Start Near Holly

March 10, 2011 - Southeastern Colorado/CDOT Region 2 - PROWERS COUNTY – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) begins replacing the 62-year-old Arkansas River Bridge on State Highway 89 next week, one mile south of Holly.

SH 89 Bridge ReplacementTraffic will continue to use the old bridge while the new bridge is under construction, just east of its current location.  However, occasional traffic stops up to 10 minutes can be expected from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.  The speed limit also will be reduced and vehicles wider than 12 feet will be restricted from traveling through the work zone.

In addition to building the new bridge, construction includes new guardrails, seeding, mulching, signing and striping.  SH 89 also will be realigned slightly to the east to connect the highway to the new bridge.

The project is scheduled for completion in December 2011.

“Building the new bridge while traffic continues to use the old one enhances safety since most of the crews can work away from traffic,” says CDOT Resident Engineer Paul Westhoff.  “And by maintaining the traffic flow through the area most of the time, it’ll minimize impacts to the traveling public.”

SEMA Construction, Inc., of Centennial, Colo. is the project’s prime contractor.

FASTER – Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery – is fully funding the $5.5 million project.  Financed by vehicle registration fees, FASTER established a Statewide Bridge Enterprise, funding the maintenance and repair of Colorado’s most urgent structurally-deficient and functionally-obsolete bridges.  Additional information is accessible at: www.coloradodot.info/projects/faster.

Updated information regarding traffic impacts on this or other CDOT projects is available at www.coloradodot.info/travel/scheduled-lane-closures or by calling 511.  To receive project updates via e-mail, visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the cell-phone icon in the upper right-hand corner.  The link takes you to a list of items you can subscribe to, including Southeast Colorado.