GYPSUM — Gypsum officials recently approved a $1.7 million contract with local firm Ewing Trucking and Construction to build its new roundabout at the intersection of Cooley Mesa and Valley roads.
According to Jim Hancock, the assistant town manager and town engineer, construction on the new roundabout will begin this spring.
“We are saying we will be starting as soon as they can, basically when the frost comes out of the ground,” Hancock said. “Then we will start talking about the schedule. There are distinct phases that have to be accomplished.”
Phase 1 will be to relocate overhead electric lines in the area.
“That is a Holy Cross Energy project and we have signed their contract already. We are in their pipeline, so to speak,” Hancock said.
After the overhead lines are buried, crews will proceed with actual roundabout construction and the project is slated for completion in 2019.
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“Our effort will be to get things done by Gypsum Daze. That is probably doable, but we don’t want to promise that. It is a big project,” said Hancock.
Expect delays
As motorists throughout the Eagle Valley have learned, roundabout construction means traffic impacts. Hancock said Gypsum’s contract with Ewing stipulated that the intersection remain open during the work. However, motorists will likely see some delays as flaggers direct one-lane traffic through the construction zone.
Hancock said the town hopes to avoid large traffic delays during commuting times and during school traffic.
When completed, it will be a single lane roundabout with turn lanes at Cooley Mesa Road. The original budget for the work was $2 million.
“We came in under budget sufficiently to where we can move ahead with the landscaping project,” Hancock said.
He noted that while the town had already planned to do landscaping at the site, that part of the project will be tackled in a separate contract after the road construction is completed.