US 50 Bridge over Blue Mesa is closed
CDOT closed the bridge at the urging of the Federal Highway Administration and state bridge engineering experts due to the findings of an ongoing safety inspection, which identified anomalies in the bridge on Thursday, April 18. The closure is in place at US 50 Mile Point 131 (intersection with Colorado Highway 92) to MP 138. Local traffic on the west side of the closure will be allowed through the closure point to reach residences.
Motorists should use COtrip to plan an alternate route. This closure will create a significant detour for commuters between Montrose and Gunnison. The recommended detour route for through traffic is via Interstate 70 to the north or US 160 to the south. CDOT understands the inconvenience that this creates and is rapidly evaluating options to improve options for residents, businesses, and travelers on the western slope. The northern route is 354 miles and requires approximately 6 hours of travel time. The southern route is 331 miles and requires nearly 7 hours of travel time.
All project information and details are available at the below websites. Questions should be addressed to the email or phone number listed below:
Important Contact Information
- Call (970) 648-4423 for the US 50 Bridge Closure Hotline, it will be staffed 7 am until 8 pm Monday through Friday; leave a voicemail for a call back at other times.
- You can email questions to us50bridge@gmail.com.
- Website resource- https://www.gunnisoncounty.org/1078/Hwy-50-Bridge-Closure , bit.ly/us50bridge; Facebook.com/US50Bridge
- To sign up for text and or email updates on all Gunnison County roadwork messaging, please visit https://www.gunnisoncounty.org/list.aspx to select what updates you’d like to start receiving. For road updates, select for Travel Advisories from the List.
Travel release Times Effective 5/9/24
On Thursday, May 9th, the County Road 26 bypass will be open 4 times per day in each direction for local public travel with reduced Commercial Motor Vehicle and trailer restrictions, as follows: the State of Colorado legal maximum vehicle dimensions and weights will be enforced. This will allow trailers and heavier commercial use of the bypass. To maintain this as a viable, safe bypass, traffic will be managed using pilot vehicles. CR 26 (also known as Lake City Cutoff) is a high mountain native surface road that is not built to sustain US 50 traffic levels.
Piloted release times will remain:
6:30 to 7:00 a.m. for westbound travel beginning at CO 149 and CR 26.
7:30 to 8:00 a.m. for eastbound travel beginning at US 50 and CR 26.
Noon to 12:30 p.m. for westbound travel beginning at CO 149 and CR 26.
1:00 to 1:30 p.m. for eastbound travel beginning at US 50 and CR 26.
6:30 to 7:00 p.m. for westbound travel beginning at CO 149 and CR 26.
7:30 to 8:00 p.m. for eastbound travel beginning at US 50 and CR 26.
8:30 to 9:00p.m. for westbound travel beginning at CO 149 and CR 26.
9:30 to 10:00 p.m. for eastbound travel beginning at US 50 and CR 26.
No other public travel will be allowed outside of these times.
- No Oversize/Overweight vehicles per Colorado Department of Transportation Regulations. https://leg.colorado.gov/content/size-and-weight-limitations
- No Placarded Hazardous Materials loads per Colorado Department of Transportation Regulations
- Prohibited vehicles will need to use detours on Interstate 70 or Colorado Highway 160 to travel between Gunnison and Montrose.