Maintenance crews will repair and repave roads damaged by winter weather before temperatures turn cool, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
“CDOT is relentlessly focused on repairing critical sections of roadways that mountain travelers depend on in advance of the upcoming winter season,” Executive Director Shoshana Lew said in a statement. “The last winter season was one of the harshest for Colorado, causing potholes and rutted pavement. We are putting that money to work by repairing 12 stretches of roadway across the state, including three along busy sections of the High Country.”
The department said contracted and in-house crews are working on sections of the Interstate 70 mountain corridor and Berthoud Pass. Both sustained damage last winter.
The department also acknowledged it requested and received $25 million of additional funding from the Colorado Transportation Commission to address critical areas throughout the state. The department said the funding allowed work to commence on roads damaged by winter weather without stopping or slowing any projects planned for 2023.
Three large projects are underway in high-traffic areas on mountain roads.
In early August, the repaving of eastbound I-70 in Clear Creek County began. The project in the Denver and central Colorado area runs from the Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnel to the Georgetown on-ramp.
A 10-mile section of Berthoud Pass will include grinding up the asphalt and paving with a new 2-inch layer. No work will take place on Friday to accommodate increases in weekend tourism traffic and work will be done on holiday weekends.
Work on resurfacing the outside lane of eastbound I-70 from Vail Pass to Frisco will also begin in early fall and is estimated to be completed by late fall.
Lew said the department is attempting to minimize lane closures to get projects completed, but stalled traffic is a possibility. She urged motorists to plan ahead and check the department’s online resources for traffic information.
“These are repairs we know the traveling public wants to see take place, but we know that construction zones can still be frustrating to navigate,” Lew said. “We ask everyone to drive with extra care and heed the signs in work zones.”
