State Highway 145 rockfall mitigation south of Telluride begins today through CDOT's RAMP program
The ¼-mile work zone is near milepost 70.50. This project will reduce the risk of rockfall in the area, as well as provide measures to capture some material in the event of rockfall. Depending on weather, the project is anticipated to take only a few weeks to complete. While crews are working, a temporary rockfall barrier will be placed near the highway centerline to catch falling debris.
To minimize impacts to motorists, this project is intentionally scheduled after the Telluride Ski Resort ski season ends on April 5. In addition, much of the work will occur over spring break for area schools. The prime contractor, TK Construction, plans to complete all work in April, which is well in advance of the summer season.
TRAVEL IMPACTS: Beginning on Tuesday, April 7, the project will result in up to 20-minute traffic delays in both directions, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until the project is complete. SH 145 will operate under flagger control with single-lane alternating traffic during working hours. At times, delays may exceed 20 minutes as traffic queues are cleared under the single lane configuration. At the end of each day, crews will clear debris, move the temporary rockfall barrier to the shoulder and open both lanes of the highway for overnight travel. CDOT would like to remind motorists to Slow for the Cone Zone. Fines will be doubled within the work zone.
The full project—awarded to TK Construction for $1.56 million*—also included rockfall mitigation (completed in December 2014) on SH 3 in Durango.
The best way to stay up to date on CDOT project progress and impacts is to sign up for email and wireless (text) alerts. Go to www.cotrip.org, click on the green cell phone icon in the center of the page and select ‘SH 145 Telluride Rockfall’ under projects.
Questions? Comments? Call the project hotline at 970-729-0790 or send an email to [email protected].
*This safety project is receiving funding from RAMP, Responsible Acceleration of Maintenance and Partnerships. RAMP is better coordinating project expenditures and available funding. Under the RAMP program, CDOT will fund multi-year projects based on year of expenditure, rather than saving for the full amount of a project before construction begins. For more information, including a list of RAMP project requests, please see our website: http://www.codot.gov/
