Representatives from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) offered additional information on the timing of reopening area highways during a Tuesday afternoon briefing, including voicing a hope to have limited traffic moving on Wolf Creek Pass by this weekend.
According to CDOT Southwest Colorado Transportation Director Julie Constan, U.S. 160 over Wolf Creek Pass sustained shoulder damage, rockslides and mudslides, retaining wall damage, culvert damage, guardrail damage and utility damage.
Constan and Shoshana Lew, CDOT executive director, noted CDOT’s hope is to have limited traffic on Wolf Creek Pass as early as this weekend, with the pass expected to be one lane with alternating traffic in areas and restrictions in place.
She added the expectation is to have Colo. 151 opened before Thanksgiving, offering a shorter route between Pagosa Springs and Durango.
Lew noted the initial estimate to have a temporary bridge in place on U.S. 160 over the Piedra River is sometime in January, but noted CDOT is working to shave time off of that estimate if possible.
Constan explained work at that site will include tearing the existing bridge down, building up the embankment, having a temporary bridge shipped and constructed, then moved into place.
She said the goal is to have one lane in each direction on the roads.
For more on the statuses of area roads and repair efforts, see Thursday’s issue of The SUN and www.PagosaSUN.com.
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