Due to Heavy Rain, State Highway 82 Independence Pass Striping Project to Continue Next Week

July 27, 2011 - Northwestern Colorado/CDOT Region 3 - Hour-long travel delays on Tuesday possible; motorists urged not to drive over wet striping.

PITKIN/LAKE COUNTIES — Due to heavy rainfall, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) must add an additional work day to the State Highway (SH) 82 striping project over Independence Pass. Crews will re-stripe sections of the highway affected by rain on Monday, August 1, in addition to performing regularly scheduled work on August 2.

Beginning August 1 at 10 a.m., crews will re-stripe a narrow, winding 10-mile stretch where the previous paint job was washed out by rain, from Lincoln Creek (MM 51) up to the summit (MM 61). Motorists are urged to drive slowly through the area and should not attempt to pass the striping truck; doing so will lead to wet paint transferring from the road to vehicles.

On August 2, as previously scheduled, crews will continue striping the lower west side of the pass between MM 45 (two miles west of the snow gate) and MM 51 (Lincoln Creek). Because the two-lane highway is narrow and visibility is limited, traffic will be periodically stopped between to protect the safety of motorists and crew members.

Traffic Impacts: Slowing from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on August 1. One-hour delays are expected from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on August 2, due to traffic stops through the narrow, winding section of highway.

CDOT would like to remind motorists to obey all construction signs and flaggers, and to drive Slow for the Cone Zone. To receive updates about road conditions in the area, visit www.coloradodot.info/ and click on the green cell phone icon in the upper right hand corner of the page.

Travel Impacts on SH 82 west side of Independence Pass tomorrow, July 28:
In addition to the two days of striping next week (see below), CDOT maintenance crews will be applying a layer of fog coat (protective sealant) on a section of recently chip-sealed surface between mile points 43.5 (base of the pass) and 47 (at the snow gate). There will be single-lane, alternating traffic and some travel delays between 9 AM and 3:30 PM.