Construction update: Breckenridge wraps up Main Street work | SummitDaily.com
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Construction update: Breckenridge wraps up Main Street work

Caddie Nath
summit daily news

Work on a revitalization project on Breckenridge Main Street concluded Friday, allowing the main thoroughfare to be opened to two lanes of traffic and pedestrians in time for July Fourth.

Crews still need to install stone pavers in the landscaping area between the sidewalk and the road in the coming week, but the work will not cause any traffic disruptions, according to a statement from the town.

Last week, the Wellington Parking lot was repaved, trees were planted and landscaping work was done near Wellington Road while concrete sidewalks, curbs and gutters were repaired at French Street, according to the statement.



The project to revamp Main Street with new bulb outs, lighting and landscaping was picked up this year after cold weather halted work before plans were completed last year.

The new right-turn lane on French Street, completed by a private developer as part of an agreement with the town, will cause some traffic impacts the second week of July. One westbound lane of French Street will be closed for an unspecified period of time. Through and left turning traffic will use the left lane while the right turning traffic will use the new turn lane, according to the town statement.



Work is set to begin July 9 and will reportedly take approximately two weeks to complete.

Work on the “big bump,” an uneven area between Silverthorne in the Eisenhower Tunnel, will halt this week for the Fourth of July and all three eastbound lanes will be opened to traffic. One lane westbound will remain closed.

Officials say they’ll keep the extra lane open all week to accommodate heavier traffic flows as the holiday will fall on a Wednesday, making it difficult to predict visitors’ travel patterns.

“This is kind of an interesting week because the Fourth falls right in the middle,” Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Bob Wilson said. “We expect consistently heavy traffic, but we’re not sure exactly what day it’s going to hit.”

After a few weeks of preparation work, CDOT crews have done some preliminary drilling on the bump, but officials say the real work will not get under way until after the holiday.

The project is intended to remove a reoccurring bump in the highway caused by landslide activity. After years of using paving to smooth out the bump, which can be dangerous if vehicles hit it at high speeds, CDOT found a longer-term solution that has proved successful on the westbound lanes of the interstate for the last two years. A similar fix is being implemented on the eastbound lanes.

Wildfires and smoke are causing problems on highways across the state, CDOT officials report.

The Pine Ridge fire near Grand Junction, which burned right up to the edge of I-70 last week, continued to cause single-lane closures between Exit 49 at Palisade and Exit 69 at De Beque Saturday.

Officials could not estimate how long the closures would last, but said crews were ready to close the highway again whenever necessary.

U.S. 24 was also closed at the Teller County/El Paso County line, according to the statement.

Highway 14 has also been impacted by wildfire activity.


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