RBC | The Colorado Department of Transportation and contractor, Scott Contracting, Inc., of Centennial, Colorado, have a project underway to improve the safety and driving surface of Colorado Highway 13 about 16 miles north of Rifle. The project, contracted to Scott for $16.8 million, will reconstruct and provide minor widening to an approximate five-mile section of CO 13 north and south of Rio Blanco County Road 5, between mile points 16.06 and 20.77.
While crews began mobilizing this week, with periodic shoulder closures, Monday, June 17, marks the first day of travel impacts along CO 13, as well as shoulder closures on County Road 5 (see Travel Impacts, below).
This will be a two-season project, with a winter suspension of work between November 2019 and April 2020 (weather dependent) and a projected completion date of November 2020. Work items will include the following:
– Vegetation clearing
– Earthwork
– Drainage improvements
– Precast concrete box culverts (3 total – 2 on CO 13 and 1 on CR 5), replacing corrugated steel structures
– Widened shoulders
– Concrete paving
– Wildlife fencing
– New signing and striping
TRAVEL IMPACTS
Through the project’s completion, anticipated for November 2020 (following the estimated winter suspension of work noted above), motorists will encounter single-lane, alternating travel from approximately 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (or as daylight permits), Monday through Friday. Some weekend work is possible. Later in the project, work on the three concrete box culverts may require several nighttime two-hour closures of CR 5 and CO 13 to facilitate replacement of these structures, which lie underneath the roadway. If these closures are necessary to complete the work, the public will be notified via news media, and information will be posted on the project website ahead of the work. Travelers are urged to slow down, obey the posted lowered speed limit, avoid all distractions, and go Slow for the Cone Zone!
WHOLE SYSTEM―WHOLE SAFETY
To heighten safety awareness, CDOT recently announced its Whole System Whole Safety initiative. This campaign takes a systematic statewide approach to safety combining the benefits of CDOT’s programs that address driving behavior, our built environment and the organization’s operations. The goal is to improve the safety of Colorado’s transportation network by reducing the rate and severity of crashes and improving safety conditions for those traveling by all transportation modes. The program has one simple mission – to get everyone home safely.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Those with questions or comments may contact the project’s public information manager at 970-309-5894 or [email protected]. The project web page is https://www.codot.gov/projects/co-13-rio-blanco-reconstruction.
Sign up for CDOT project or travel alerts: bit.ly/COalerts
See CDOT’s scheduled lane closures: codot.gov/travel/scheduled-lane-closures.html
Connect with CDOT on Twitter (@coloradodot) and Facebook (facebook.com/coloradodot)
Special to the Herald Times
