Starting April 6, the Colorado Department of Transportation and contract partner Four Corners Materials will begin rest area truck parking enhancements at two locations on U.S. Highway 160, including one between Mancos and Cortez.

The Sleeping Ute Rest Area at mile point 46.46, east of Cortez, will increase parking from three commercial motor vehicle parking spaces to six. The Shaw Creek Rest area at mile point 191.40, east of South Fork, will increase from four CMV spaces to 10.

As part of CDOT’s Whole System, Whole Safety initiative, the project will focus on safety enhancements to the Sleeping Ute Rest Area and Shaw Creek Rest Area to provide clearly defined locations for commercial motor vehicle parking. When Wolf Creek Pass is impassible or closed because of weather, crashes, rockfalls, avalanches or other emergencies that arise. The expansion at Shaw Creek Rest Area will provide parking off the highway for commercial motor vehicles and will reduce truck traffic in city limits, on local streets, or in areas that are difficult to maneuver. The additional CMV parking spaces in the Sleeping Ute Rest Area will also allow for clearly defined commercial motor vehicle parking, providing passenger vehicles to flow through the rest area preventing potential encounters with the parked trucks.

Additional work for the $1.23 million project will include erosion control, widening of the existing truck parking areas, asphalt patching, chip seal, striping and lighting upgrades that consist of new poles and luminaries with improved technology and lower energy use.

The project will be in operation Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., beginning April 6. Parking and facilities will remain open until the last two weeks of the project, at the end of June.