Steamboat Pilot & Today

Blooming flowers and quickly disappearing snow means it's time for summer roadwork. The county has started projects it has planned for the spring and summer, said Road and Bridge Director Paul Draper.

More than 780,000 gallons of magnesium chloride, a liquid salt solution that helps keep dust at a minimum during the summer, is being applied to multiple roads across the county.

The recent moisture and cloudy weather has been helpful in working the chemical into the roads, Draper said, though a few days were lost to bad weather. The county is about three-quarters finished with the application and should be completely finished by next week.

Work on the Mad Creek Bridge also is moving along but not as quickly as was hoped, Draper said. The $300,000 project is to replace a deteriorated girder.

Some bolt holes on the bridge walkway did not line up very well, which has caused some delay. The plan is to finish the work in early June, in time for the Steamboat Springs marathon, Draper said.

Also scheduled for this summer is about 11 miles of roadways up for chip seal work. That amount is fairly modest because of budget constraints, Draper said.

The work includes one mile on Routt County Road 16, from the intersection with County Road 14 to the top of the hill; 2.3 miles of County Road 14, from Colorado Highway 131 to Jack Creek; 3.8 miles of County Road 129, from Moonhill to the Round Mountain Ranch; one mile of County Road 27, from County Road 51B to Highway 40; and the three miles of County Road 51 that makes the loop by Yampa Valley Regional Airport.

The cost of these five projects is about $260,000.

Work will begin June 28 and should finish up July 2. During that time, delays should be minimal.

"We carry traffic at all times, (in) one lane, so delays should be 10 minutes or less," Draper said. Still, people should remember to "drive responsibly; remember, easy does it," Draper said.