Construction on US Highway 40 may be wrapping up, but Fraser’s road work this summer is not done yet. Starting in August, construction to replace the County Road 8 bridge will get underway.
In May, the Fraser Board of Trustees approved a $1 million proposal from the Steamboat Springs company Duckels Construction to replace the bridge over the Fraser River on County Road 8, a project that is estimated to take around four months.
The project was slated to start Aug. 1, but is now supposed to begin Aug. 5 depending on the height of the river, town manager Jeff Durbin said.
The bridge, which has received a poor inspection rating from the state for at least the last 10 years, will be replaced as part of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s off-highway bridge replacement program.
The replacement will require the closure of County Road 8 for the duration of the project, and the town will have to provide alternative routes for drivers, emergency responders and transit.
“We should have detour notices going out next week,” Durbin said.
The road closure will impact Fraser’s Meadow Ridge and Winter Park Ranch neighborhoods, as well as the Lift lines that run through them.
Fraser will split the cost of the project with the Colorado Department of Transportation and Grand County. Ultimately, the local contribution from the town and county will be around $200,000.
Paving the road around the bridge will be a separate project likely next year, Durbin added.