EL PASO COUNTY - Work is underway on a bridge replacement and water diversion project in the Falcon area that is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) project replaces a 77-year-old bridge with a relocated concrete box culvert along U.S. 24, about two miles northeast of Falcon (just west of Judge Orr Road). Other work includes asphalt paving, detour construction, erosion control work and seeding.
CDOT also is constructing a new channel downstream of the new box culvert to provide added flood protection for nearby properties. This phase includes construction of a concrete box culvert on Bluegill Drive, rock and stone placement, wetland mitigation and channel work.
Project hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Occasional traffic stops will take place for truck hauling operations, with only minor delays. Occasionally, the speed limit will be reduced to 30 mph to allow safe travel through the area during roadside construction activities.
Traffic will be shifted slightly north onto the new paved detour, adjacent to U.S. 24, in early January. The detour speed limit will be 40 mph. Traffic is scheduled to shift back to the U.S. 24 alignment in March.
Scott Contracting, Inc., of Henderson CO. is the contractor for the $3.5 million project, all of which is being funded by the Recovery Act. Construction is scheduled for completion in May 2010.
"Receiving the ARRA funds allowed us to accelerate replacement of a deficient bridge in Region Two," says CDOT Regional Transportation Director Tim Harris. "The recent FASTER legislation will also allow us to replace more bridges in the region but we've still got a long way to go."
Weekly lane closure information about this project and others will be available at www.dot.state.co.us/TravelInfo/currentcond/ or by calling 511.
In all, Colorado will receive more than $400 million for transportation projects and $103 million for transit projects. For more information about how Colorado is putting the Recovery Act to work, visit www.colorado.gov/recovery.
