Upgrades Begin on Highway 160

July 23, 2015 - Southeastern Colorado/CDOT Region 2 - LAS ANIMAS COUNTY — Work is underway to improve the 18 mile segment of U.S. 160 between mile 405 and 423, east and west of Kim.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) project consists of rotomilling, asphalt paving, full-depth patching at select locations, new guardrails, traffic delineators and striping.  In addition, the 56-year-old bridge at Smith Canyon is being replaced with a concrete box culvert.  It is located about seven miles west of Kim.

Project hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.  During paving operations, drivers can expect single lane closures, with alternating traffic through the work zone.  Delays up to 15 minutes should be anticipated.

Beginning on Friday, August 7, Highway 160 will be closed 24/7 to all through traffic, except emergency vehicles, for bridge replacement.  A local traffic detour will be in place, southwest of Kim, using the following county roads, east to west: 185, 30, and 191. 

The closure and detour route are expected to remain in place for about 10 days, with the highway reopened to traffic by Sunday, August 16. 

All through traffic will be required to detour around this area, using these recommended routes:

  • WEST TO EAST – From the Trinidad area: northeast on U.S. 350 to La Junta, south on State Highway 109 to Kim OR east on U.S. 50 from La Junta to Lamar, and south on U.S. 287 to U.S 160 in Springfield.
  • EAST TO WEST – From the Springfield area: west on Highway 160 to SH 109, north on SH 109 to La Junta, southwest on U.S. 350 to Trinidad OR if headed to Pueblo, or points west or north, travel north on U.S. 287 from Springfield to Lamar, west on U.S. 50 to Pueblo.

APC Southern Construction of is the contractor for the $4.8 million project.  It is scheduled for completion in November 2015.

Additional information is available by calling the project hotline at 719-480-9890.

Traffic information about this or other CDOT projects is on the cotrip.org website, by calling 511 or via subscription e-mail or text.  To subscribe, please visit www.codot.gov and click on the small letter icon at the bottom of the page. The link takes you to a list of items you can subscribe to, including Southeast Colorado (Everything East of I-25 and South of I-70).