The U.S. 50 bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir, a key connecting route in western Colorado, is scheduled to re-open for all traffic starting Oct. 16, state transportation officials announced Friday.
A single lane on the bridge will open 24 hours a day. Final reconstruction activities, necessary before resuming two-way travel, will be done at night between 11:30 p.m. and 6 a.m., Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stacia Sellers said. Late-night travelers can expect delays, she said. Travel will be piloted across the bridge in each direction.
Travel over this bridge has been disrupted since April, when state and federal transportation inspectors found problems, including a crack through a steel girder near the middle of the bridge. Repair work also encompassed the Lake Fork Bridge on U.S. 50, which was built using the same steel in the early 1960s and a method that engineers subsequently deemed faulty.
Western Colorado residents rely heavily on U.S. 50, which links Gunnison and Montrose. Closures along U.S. 50 forced drivers to take detours that added up to seven hours of travel time.
The bridge opening next week will end pilot car operations along Gunnison County Road 26, CDOT officials said. That road will stay open and can serve as a local alternate route in the coming months as weather conditions allow, officials said.
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