SUMMIT COUNTY - Get used to the views of Dillon Reservoir. You might be sitting on area roads a little more often this summer.

Summit County drivers will see more highway construction projects this summer, mirroring the days when Highway 9 was widened north of Breckenridge in the mid-1990s.

Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) officials outlined the projects at a quarterly meeting with the Summit County Board of County Commissioners Tuesday morning, which include construction of a roundabout in Breckenridge, double-laning the I-70 on-ramp from Summit Boulevard in Frisco and replacing guardrails with steels wires down the middle of I-70 to prevent vehicles from crossing over into the opposing lane of traffic.

The roundabout - the largest of next summer's projects in the county - is designed to improve traffic flow at the intersection at North Park and Highway 9. This past fall, CDOT workers installed abutments and conducted work in the river to accommodate a "sweeping arm" that will divert traffic from southbound Highway 9 onto Park Avenue and into the parking lots.

Work will begin anew this spring when workers will blast away the hillside on the east side of the intersection at North Park and Highway 9 to make room for a two-lane roundabout.

That work will cause periodic delays of traffic.



Four-laning project

Other work CDOT hopes to conduct this summer involves improving the South Park Avenue and Main Street intersection in Breckenridge, making it easier for traffic to flow onto Park Avenue.

That work represents the first phase of a multiyear project that will include four-laning the highway from Frisco to Breckenridge to improve traffic flow and make the highway safer.

CDOT outlined its staging for the massive four-laning project, which is currently projected to cost $90 million in 2005 dollars. The first phase, which includes the roundabout and four-laning the highway to Valley Brook Road, will cost an estimated $8 million.



Frisco on-ramp

Another major project involves adding a second lane to the eastbound I-70 on-ramp at Summit Boulevard in Frisco to alleviate long lines that back up during the busy parts of the year.

When work begins in April or May, drivers will only be able to use the west Frisco and Silverthorne exits. Those who need to use businesses along Summit Boulevard will either have to take Main Street or the Dillon Dam Road.

Other work will involve closing the bridge over I-70 for about three days to replace the metal expansion joints that have become worn and exposed.

The contractor who wins that bid must get the entire project done within a week, said CDOT engineer Ina Zisman. CDOT officials expect to select a contractor by the end of February.

Eastbound traffic leaving Summit Boulevard will not be disrupted, as CDOT workers will allow drivers to travel on the existing on-ramp. Concrete barriers will divide the two lanes.

The biggest challenges will be seen when work begins on the bridge, which needs to have its expansion joints replaced and repaved. That work will take three days sometime in May or October, weather permitting.

The contractors will only be allowed to work on the bridge for three days. The earliest they can start is 7 a.m. on a Monday and the latest they can work is noon that following Friday. The exact dates have yet to be set.



Hoosier Pass

CDOT will take bids Jan. 27 to replace guardrails on Hoosier Pass and replace them with wire safety fences. The same fences would be installed in five locations in the median of I-70 between Frisco and Copper Mountain Resort.

The three-quarter-inch cables will be installed on posts about 6 feet apart. Instead of deflecting vehicles that drive off the highway, the high-tension wires will absorb the momentum of the vehicle until it comes to a stop, said Jeff Kullman, CDOT regional transportation director.

An advantage the wires have over guardrails is that they don't create drifts of wind-blown snow on the roadway on the other side of the guardrail.

CDOT expects single-lane closures on Highway 9 from Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday from 7 a.m. to noon. Work is expected to begin in February or March and be completed by September.

The transportation agency also plans to take bids this fall to repave 3 miles of Hoosier Pass from the summit to the town limits of Blue River. That work won't begin until the summer of 2006. Other work involved in that project will involve replacing culverts and installing sediment containment ponds.



Jane Stebbins can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 228, or at jstebbins@summitdaily.com.