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Dillon Valley road fix drags on

DREW ANDERSEN
summit daily news
Summit Daily/Mark FoxWork underway on the retaining wall above Little Beaver Trail.
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The town of Dillon will vote on Tuesday on a series of measures to reopen Dillon Valley’s Little Beaver Trail to one lane of traffic, but the road will close again next spring for three to four months.

Little Beaver Trail closed to public traffic on May 24 after a retaining wall on the slope that runs from Walgreens down to the road failed following a water main rupture. Debris from the slope slid across Little Beaver Trail, and the town was forced to close the road to traffic. Residents of unincorporated Dillon Valley have been denied access to one of only two entrances to their neighborhood ever since the incident occurred, but the town cannot begin construction on a temporary fix until the Walgreens building above is secured.

The temporary wall will consist of six 20-foot long shipping containers. Debris will be removed from the slide area, and the containers will be installed along the toe of the slide area between the Walgreens on Dillon Ridge Rd. and Little Beaver Trail. The excavated debris will be placed in the containers and on the slope behind the containers. A gravel drainage layer with a perforated pipe collection system will be installed beneath the container wall system.



The town hoped to open the road to two lanes of traffic, but only a single lane will be open this winter with traffic signals on either side to manage alternating traffic flows.

Silverthorne-based Columbine Concrete, Inc. won the bid for the project at $34,870, pending council approval on Tuesday. The town set aside $200,000 specifically for repairs to reopen Little Beaver Trail, and the funding for the temporary wall will be drawn from that account. Columbine Concrete officials declined to comment on how long it would take to install the temporary wall.



The wall cannot be installed until construction of a permanent block and anchor retaining structure to secure the Walgreens building above. According to a staff summary prepared by town engineer Dan Burroughs, contractor Hayward Baker is expected to complete construction by Nov. 18, leaving Columbine Concrete one week to meet the town’s estimate of having the road re-opened by Thanksgiving.

Walgreens hired a design team to formulate a permanent fix for the failed retaining wall scheduled to begin in May of 2011. During the construction process, Little Beaver Trail will be closed to public traffic for an estimated three to four months.

SDN reporter Drew Andersen can be contacted at (970) 668-4633 or drewa@summitdaily.com.


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