GUNNISON COUNTY, Colo. — Residents in Gunnison County will have a bypass route to get around a closure of U.S. 50 beginning Monday.
Gunnison County Emergency Management posted Sunday afternoon that County Road 26, also known as Lake City cutoff, will be open two times daily each way for locals-only use. The reason for the locals-only designation is that the road is a high mountain native surface road that is not built to take on existing Highway 50 traffic levels, officials said.
Pilot vehicles will be used to escort drivers from each direction two times a day. Those times are:
- 6-6:30 a.m., and 6-6:30 p.m. for westbound drivers starting at CO 149 and CR 26
- 7-7:30 a.m., and 7-7:30 p.m. for eastbound drivers starting at U.S. 50 and CR 26
The roughly 20-mile route on CR 26 between U.S. 50 and CO 149 would cut hundreds of miles off of detours for drivers trying to get between Gunnison and Montrose. The current detour in place is more than 300 miles long.
Drivers accessing CR 26 need to be aware that no trailers of any type will be allowed on the bypass, and no commercial vehicles over 16,000 GVWR will be allowed, according to officials.
Vehicles towing trailers and commercial vehicles over 16,000 GVWR will still need to use the detour in place on Interstate 70 or Colorado 160 to get between Montrose and Gunnison.
In between the drive times, crews will be making improvements and repairs to County Road 26 in case there's an extended closure of U.S. 50.
The detours were put in place after a bridge that crosses Blue Mesa Reservoir failed inspection on Thursday.
A hotline and email have been set up to help people who have questions about the closure. Anyone with questions can reach out by calling 970-648-4423 or by emailing us50bridge@gmail.com. You can also get information on the project website.
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