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Summit County Highway 9 project could create four continuous lanes from I-70 to Breckenridge

Jack Queen
Summit Daily News
The Iron Springs project of Highway 9 between Breckenridge and Friso seen a month before it was completed in November. A follow-up project that would finally create four lanes between I-70 and Breckenridge has tentatively received funding.
Hugh Carey / hcarey@summitdaily.com |

CDOT SB-267 projects

$250 million for Interstate 25 south of Denver: Construction of one new tolled express lane in each direction from Monument to Plum Creek Parkway.

$200 million for I-25 north of Denver: Addition of one new tolled express lane in each direction, interchange reconstruction, mainline reconstruction, and improvements between state highways 402 and 56.

$80 million for Interstate 70 west of Denver: Construction of peak period shoulder lanes on the westbound side from Twin Tunnels to Empire Junction.

$60 million for Colorado Highway 13 south of the Wyoming state line: Reconstruction and improvements at three locations between Wyoming and the town of Rifle.

$57.3 million for U.S. Highway 550/160 connection east of Durango: Completion of the connection at the Grandview Interchange.

$55 million for I-70 east of Denver: Pavement replacement and associated safety improvements.

$36 million for U.S. 50 west of Pueblo: Widening of the divided highway from two lanes to three.

$25 million for Americans with Disabilities Act improvements around the state.

$10 million for Highway 9 south of Frisco (the gap): Completion of corridor including minimal widening, water quality and drainage improvements and improvements to two intersections.

$9.5 million for U.S. 50 near Little Blue Canyon: Reconstruction and widening of existing roadway to meet current design standards and improve safety, drainage and access. Project will also add passing lanes and do landslide mitigation.

$9 million for U.S. 160 in Montezuma County: Construction of passing lanes and vehicle turnouts.

Source: Colorado Department of Transportation

SUMMIT COUNTY ­— A $10 million highway project between Frisco and Breckenridge has been slated for state funding, potentially uncorking a chronic traffic bottleneck near the hospital and establishing four continuous lanes from Interstate 70 to Main Street in Breckenridge.

The project, known colloquially as “the gap,” would put a finishing touch on the Iron Springs bypass, a re-route of Colorado Highway 9 between Farmer’s Korner and St. Anthony Summit Medical Center that was finished in November. To the frustration of some drivers, the highway still returns to one lane in each direction near Frisco.

Funding for the gap project isn’t final yet, but the Colorado Department of Transportation confirmed it is one of 11 slated to receive money from a $1.9 billion funding package passed by the State Legislature in the spring.



The provisional list of projects also includes $80 million of improvements to westbound I-70 in Clear Creek County that would add peak period shoulder lanes. Those have already been built on the east side, where they have eased congestion.

That could also benefit the Summit County economy, but the gap project is the top-ticket item for local transportation officials. Until a couple of weeks ago, it was unclear how it would ever get funding.

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“Our highest priority is definitely the Highway 9 gap project,” said Summit County public works director Tom Gosiorowski. “CDOT has money to complete the design, and we were all hopeful that money would magically somehow turn up for construction. The good news is that now it looks like it has.”

Last month, CDOT placed the gap on its list of projects mandated for completion by the Sustainability of Rural Colorado Act, or Senate Bill 267, a sprawling piece of legislation that included nearly $2 billion in road funding over several years.

Easing Uncertainty

State officials are still confirming whether or not the full amount will materialize, because it was secured through lease-purchase agreements on public buildings. If all goes according to plan, then the first batch of road money would roll in next July.

“The best case schedule would be if construction funds become available in the first part of 2019, the project could advertise for bids beginning in June of 2020,” a CDOT spokeswoman said in an email. “We are expecting two seasons of construction for this final corridor project.”

It could still be a while before shovels hit the ground, but the decision eases uncertainty among transportation officials that the project would languish unfunded for years.

“That sounds like a long way out, but that is actually as fast as this possibly could have gone,” Gosiorowski said. “Had there not been a source of construction money, it could’ve gone on for years and years. So everybody’s really excited.”

Just a month ago, funding for the gap seemed like it might be a long shot. CDOT has roughly $9 billion in unfunded project across the state, and the legislature failed to reach a grand funding bargain during its last session.

Instead, it passed SB 267 as a stopgap, but it wasn’t clear until now where the money would actually ago. A combined $450 million is provisionally slated for improvements to Interstate 25 on the Front Range, while the rest of the money is set aside for rural counties.

The money is effectively a loan that CDOT would later have to pay back, unless the legislature finds another funding solution. But for now, local officials are just glad that the gap made the cut in an extremely competitive time for roadwork.

Designs for the project are only about 30 percent complete, Gosiorowski said. But engineers are looking at possibly putting in a traffic light or roundabout at Eighth Avenue and Highway 9 and replacing the Peak One Boulevard light with a roundabout.

All told, the project would significantly remake the well-traveled route from I-70 to Breckenridge and ease the choke point that slows traffic outside of Frisco to crawl during peak hours.

The project would also include bike, pedestrian, transit and drainage improvements, as well as noise walls near residential areas, the CDOT spokeswoman said. A public meeting will be held in the spring to present the design.


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