US 287 / CO 40 Passing Lanes begins March 22

CHEYENNE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES — Beginning March 22, the Colorado Department of Transportation will begin work to add four new and two improved passing lanes between Hugo and the Cheyenne/Kiowa County line. 

The route, which is part of a multi-state freight network to distribute goods throughout the nation, is heavily used by motorists as well as freight drivers delivering the area's agricultural products. The project is spread over approximately 70 miles with completion expected by December.

"This project will significantly improve safety on the corridor by providing much needed passing lanes on this heavily traveled freight corridor,” said Regional Transportation Director Heather Paddock. 

"Large trucks make up 40-60 percent of the traffic along the 287 corridor, causing long lines of traffic with little passing opportunities," Paddock said. "The passing lanes project will increase the safety and mobility of all users by providing safe and more frequent passing opportunities. This project will be adding four new passing lanes and extending two insufficient passing lanes."

CDOT’s Executive Director Shoshana Lew agrees. “We know that crashes happen when in areas with high concentrations of large trucks and insufficient opportunities to pass," Lew said. "Freight makes up over half the traffic along this corridor. These passing lane improvements will save lives and improve travel time reliability for local residents, freight carriers, and the traveling public."

Traffic Impacts

Anyone traveling this corridor can expect throughout the project:

• Lanes shifts of existing roadway alignment

• Single-lane, alternating travel through the work zone. 

• Flaggers will direct single-lane, alternating traffic. 

• Width restrictions of 11 feet will be in place 24 hours a day.

• Speed reductions will be in place of 50 mph during working hours.

Project Contact Information

• Project hotline – 720-534-0868

• Project email – us287sh40passinglanes@gmail.com 

• Project website – https://www.codot.gov/projects/us287-us40-passing-lanes

• Sign up for weekly project updates – please log onto the project web site and click on the Alerts Information on the Move, to “Subscribe to Project Updates.”

About CDOT

CDOT’s Whole System-Whole Safety program has one simple mission — to get everyone home safely, and our approximately 3,000 employees work tirelessly to reduce the rate and severity of crashes and improve the safety of all modes of transportation. The department manages more than 23,000 lane miles of highway, more than 3,000 bridges and 35 mountain passes. CDOT also manages grant partnerships with a range of agencies, including metropolitan planning organizations, local governments and airports. It also operates Bustang, the state-owned interregional express bus service. Gov. Jared Polis has charged CDOT to further build on the state’s intermodal mobility options.