A contractor has been secured to work on emergency repairs needed along a section of Colorado Highway 133 north of Paonia that was significantly damaged due to major flooding.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) said it is working on the details and schedules with the contractor partner, Ralph L. Wadsworth, to get the highway open and running as soon as safely possible.
The road is currently closed, so CDOT crews are planning to do emergency repairs in the meantime. This will include a temporary bridge to cross a major fracture in the road. Once this is in place, Highway 133 can reopen to motorists.
The permanent repairs will likely begin after that bridge is installed.
A safety closure has been in place along the road between milepoints 14 and 19 since May 2 due to this damage, which began with a small sinkhole and lane closure on the weekend of April 29-30.
Local
Highway 133 closed at Bear Creek after culvert fails, washes out roadway
With the flooding in early May, the nearby Bear Creek filled a culvert with debris and flooded the roadway, pushing the culvert to the other side of the road and eroding the embankment, CDOT said. This caused the road to collapse.
People who do not live locally are asked to avoid the area.
Use COTrip.org when planning to travel around the state for the latest on closures and road conditions.
