State Highway 9 Safety Improvements Project Receives Funding for Right-of-Way Acquisition
GRAND COUNTY — The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Transportation Commission has approved $450,000 in funding for right-of-way (ROW) acquisition for the State Highway (SH) 9 safety improvements and wildlife mitigation project in Grand County.
The approved funding will allow CDOT to purchase ROW from private land owners in order to further pursue the project in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Grand County, and the Blue Valley Ranch (a private partner) when future construction funding is identified. The project is currently in the design phase.
SH 9 is a major traffic route between Kremmling and Silverthorne in Summit and Grand counties. Although the highway runs through many other counties, the narrow stretch of highway between mile marker (MM) 126 and MM 137, near the Green Mountain Dam Road and Colorado River Crossing, has been the site of numerous accidents in the past few years between motorists and wildlife. In order to mitigate future accidents and save human and animal lives, CDOT is working with Grand County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and the Blue Valley Ranch to complete the design process of the project so when construction funding becomes available, the project can begin as soon as possible.
Safety improvements to be made to the stretch of roadway between MM 126 and MM 137 include widening and adding eight foot shoulders, improving roadway alignment to bring up to current design standards, straightening severe roadway curves, flattening steep hills with improved sightdistance, making access/intersection improvements, and implementing wildlife mitigation strategies such as fencing and underpasses/overpasses to allow wildlife migration and to reduce wildlife/vehicle collisions along this section of highway.
Please visit the project website for the most current information about the State Highway 9 safety improvements project at www.coloradodot.info/projects/sh9grandcounty. To receive real-time updates about road conditions in your area, visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the green cell phone icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Updates are also available via Twitter @coloradodot and be sure to “Like” us on our new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/coloradodot.
