US 287 Detour in Place Monday at Dry Creek Bridge

LARIMER COUNTY — Beginning Monday, December 5, US 287 will be detoured at the Dry Creek Bridge at mile marker (MM) 349 north of Fort Collins. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will divert traffic until May 2012 so the existing bridge can be demolished and replaced.

“Because the bridge was built in the 1930s, it has become functionally obsolete by today’s standards,” said Project Engineer Lou Keen. “The new bridge will be sized to accommodate a wider future roadway to better meet the needs of the traveling public.”

As part of the project, large culverts will be installed under the existing roadway to more effectively drain the area, and the flood plain along Dry Creek will be lowered by three feet, alleviating some flooding danger for several residents along the highway. When warmer temperatures exist, CDOT will use asphalt paving to repave the roadway. The entire project is scheduled for completion by June 2012.

Work will take place between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and there will be alternating single lane closures at US 287 and Meadow Lane between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The speed limit will be reduced along the detour and CDOT would like to remind motorists to obey all road signs and flaggers, and to drive Slow for the Cone Zone.

CDOT has been purchasing right-of-way near the Dry Creek Bridge as part of a future effort to widen the US 287 roadway to four lanes, and also to add a center turn lane, bike lanes, and sidewalks. There is no cost estimate for the future widening project and until funding is secured, there is no timeline in place.

The $1.8 million bridge replacement project contracted to Mountain Constructors is funded by the Colorado Bridge Enterprise (CBE), formed in 2009 as part of the FASTER (Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery) legislation. The purpose of the CBE is to finance, repair, reconstruct and replace structurally deficient bridges. Visit CDOT’s CBE website at http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/BridgeEnterprise.

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