The year 2024 may be remembered by RVers as the year of the bridge detour, the latest in Colorado. The high-traffic span across Blue Mesa Reservoir on busy U.S. 50 has been closed indefinitely. The bridge handles traffic between Gunnison and Montrose, two rural but important communities. Colorado’s Department of Transportation (CDOT) warns the closure could create up to a six-hour delay.
Not whacked by a ship—a victim of “anomalies”
Last Thursday, engineers found anomalies in the structure. The “anomalies” were later defined as cracks in the 51-year-old steel structure. This bridge was one of several CDOT has inspected recently. The inspections were triggered in response to bridges of similar design across the U.S. with safety issues.
“There’s different structure types, there’s different issues that have been going on with them,” said Keith Stefanick, CDOT’s chief engineer. What he said wasn’t comforting to locals and travelers alike. “The repairs have ranged from some temporary repairs to some longer, permanent repairs depending on the severity and the structure type, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all repair solution.”
Bridge situation creates significant delays
RVers traveling across this part of Colorado will certainly be inconvenienced. Note the attached Google map that shows the CDOT recommend detour. Yes, there’s a “little issue” here—it’s 345 miles out of your way. Add an extra day of travel?
Locals are suffering, too, including a group of school students whose bus normally crosses the now-closed bridge. When engineers red-tagged the bridge and shut it down last week, they were stuck on the wrong side of the divide to get back home after school. The National Park Service came to their rescue, ferrying them across the reservoir.
Locals have restricted alternative
Meanwhile, locals now have an alternative. A back route lead by a pilot car at scheduled times will allow only locals access to certain areas cut off by the closed bridge. Don’t think you’ll be able to call yourself a local and sneak through. Even if you could, absolutely NO trailers are allowed on the route, and larger vehicles are verboten as well. This Colorado bridge situation creates significant delays, indeed.
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Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 This is consistent with other reports stating that a large number of US highway bridges are near the end of their lives. Or am I getting my stories crossed and mixed? Either way, that is some detour! (said similarly to “some pig” in Charlotte’s Web) Wow! Thanks again and safe travels! 🙂
I’ve heard there are a lot of bridges that need repairing or replacing in the U.S. So, thanks to your comment, I looked it up. According to an American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) report in August 2023, there are more than 222,000 U.S. bridges that need major repair work or should be replaced. That’s about 36 percent of all bridges. Here’s a link to some stats, which includes a link to the full report. (Now I’m sorta sorry that I looked it up. Yikes!) Have a good evening/night, Neal. 😀 –Diane
Wow! Thank you, Diane! That is a huge number and percentage!?!?!?! Thank you for the research and link, Diane. I guess we need to start avoiding bridges. 🙁 Thank you, Diane, good night! 🙂
👍 Thanks, Neal. BTW, Washington state only has 7,273 bridges in need of repair or replacing.😲 Guess I’m stuck at home. Oh, wait. Tennessee has 7,394 of those bridges. No more traveling for you.😉-Diane
If you’re both stuck at home does that mean it’s finally safe for me to get back on the road ? 🤔🙂
Go for it, Bill. Just remember to stay off any bridges.😉 Have a good evening/night. 😀 –Diane
Ha! Now I know why my mother never wants me driving the RV over bridges. I’ll never know it failed until I’m wondering how well an RV floats. 🤔😯🙁
I guess someone in Gov’t needs to do some serious priortization. 222,000 U.S. bridges needing major repairs. That is almost criminal. I’m from Minnesota…remember the I-35 bridge collapse? No one wants or deserves one in their state. Something like this needs VERY high priority over the many other ways they are choosing to spend…or better said, BORROW…our money.
Major repairs or replacing.😲 Scary! Have a good evening/night, Mikal. 😀 –Diane
Ground breaking for the $12 Billion dollar (yea, right) high speed rail from L.A. to Las Vegas was today..expected to be completed in time for the 2028 Olympics in L.A. ! (😂)
That kind of money would go a long way in repairing the nations bridges,!!
Wow! We took Hwy 50 through that area last summer traveling to Montrose. That’s some detour. In 2021, we were on 70 heading west to Utah when a mudslide occurred. They detoured us through Steamboat Springs and that was an additional 4 hours. Just a good example of why it’s important to remain flexible.
We drove through Glenwood Canyon 3 hours before that mudslide occurred. We heard about it just after we made it safely home near Denver.
Very timely information! We were planning a trip through there this summer, although we probably would have been made aware of it. It would have been the pits if we hadn’t. Thanks!
If you need to make the detour now (April), going through Leadville is an iffy proposition. I am having to go back to I-25, and then catch I-70 out of Denver. Now that’s a really long detour.
Leadville is a historical place to visit.
Once the snow melts (it is snowing at my house right now!), CDOT has two planned detours on gravel roads. Kebler Pass road (12RD) will allow access to Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs using CO 133. It is a gravel road that carries bumper-to-bumper, two-way traffic on weekends during the September aspen “leaf-peeping” season. 26RD from CO 149 will bypass the bridge and put traffic back on US 50 at Sapinero. However, this detour will use a pilot car and alternating, one-way traffic, with no trailers or >16,000# vehicles allowed.
I believe it was two years ago (2022) CDOT replaced the deck of that bridge. NOW they find cracks, yes there are more.