Safety Closure in Place for U.S. 50 Blue Mesa Bridge located West of Gunnison

Traffic is being rerouted off U.S. 50 in Gunnison County due to the safety closure today of a bridge located west of Gunnison.

CDOT performed bridge work across southwest Colorado last fall. The current safety closure of an area over a bridge is occurring on U.S. 50 west of Gunnison. Courtesy image.

The Colorado Department of Transportation has closed the bridge at the urging of the Federal Highway Administration and state bridge engineering experts due to the findings of an ongoing safety inspection. That inspection identified “anomalies” in the bridge on Thursday, April 18.

The closure west of Gunnison is in place between U.S. 50 Mile Point 131 (intersection with Colorado Highway 92) and MP 138. Local traffic will be allowed through the closure point to reach residences.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) hosted a media briefing this morning to provide an update about the US 50 bridge closure.

The briefing included the top officials of CDOT including CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew, CDOT Chief Engineer Keith Stefanik, CDOT Region 3 Regional Transportation Director Jason Smith, and CDOT Staff Bridge Michael Collins. There is no word yet on how long structural repairs might take.

Due to immediate safety concerns, the road area around the bridge is closed, and motorists are being urged to use COtrip.org to plan an alternate route.

Those detours will be significant according to CDOT, with current recommended routes via I-70 to the north or U.S. 160 to the south. The north detour could be 354 miles, requiring six hours driving time, and the south route 331 miles, requiring nearly seven hours drive time.

CDOT is working to determine whether it is feasible to open local seasonal routes to try to reduce long travel times for local residents.

Closer to home, CDOT has just begun construction work on the intersection of U.S. 50 and U.S. 285 in Poncha Springs, which is expected to be completed by October.

Editor note: Ark Valley Voice Senior Reporter Dan Smith and Managing Editor Jan Wondra contributed to this story.