Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and CDOT Sign Agreement
MONTEZUMA COUNTY – Officials from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (UMU) will sign a maintenance agreement Friday, June 3, 12:00 noon at the Ute Mountain Casino 11 miles South of Cortez on SH 491. The agreement helps to address communication and coordination of maintenance and engineering activities on the highways that cross tribal land. The two agencies have been collaborating and working toward the agreement for more than two years.
Traveling from Denver for the event is CDOT Executive Director Shailen Bhatt who said, “This agreement will improve communication between the Tribe and CDOT not only with issues regarding maintenance, but with matters such as planning, access, the environment, right-of-way, and special events.”
Bhatt continued, “We appreciate the time and effort put forth by the Tribe with keeping the scope of this agreement manageable. We credit Tribal Chairman Manuel Heart, the Tribal Council and staff for their leadership with this effort.”
The maintenance agreement focuses on several key areas of maintaining roads and structures on UMU tribal property including: fencing, cattle guards, storm water, mowing, weed control, and future roadway improvements.
OTHER ROAD & PROJECT INFORMATION: To sign up to receive project information and/or lane closure updates on state highways in the area of your choice, visit CDOT’s website at www.codot.gov and choose the envelope icon at the bottom of the page. Or, to see CDOT’s lane closure reports for projects statewide, visit www.codot.gov/travel/
