U.S. Highway 550 will close from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday between Molas Pass and Silverton.
Vehicles traveling northbound between Durango and Silverton will be stopped at mile marker 64 on Molas Pass, and southbound vehicles traveling from Silverton will be stopped at mile marker 70 in Silverton, according to a Tuesday news release from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The closure will allow crews to perform chip seal operations – a preventative road maintenance treatment that involves spraying a heated liquid asphalt emulsion onto the pavement, covering it with crushed gravel and compacting the surface with rollers – between mile marker 64 and 70.
The complete road closure is necessary to ensure safety along the narrow portion of highway, the release said.
For more information
Road conditions and travel information can be found at COtrip.org
For travel alerts, visit www.maps.cotrip.org/list/events
For information on road closures, road work, weather conditions and crashes, visit bit.ly/3PQimq5.
An alternative, westerly route between Durango and Ridgway is recommended to motorists during the closure.
The detour route, which will add about an hour of additional driving time between Durango and Ridgway, is as follows:
- U.S. Highway 160 from Durango to Mancos
- Colorado State Highway 184 from Mancos to Dolores
- Colorado State Highway 145 from Dolores to Placerville
- Colorado State Highway 62 from Placerville to Ridgway
- For drivers continuing farther south to Silverton: Highway 550 from Ridgway to Silverton.
To ensure maximum safety after chip seal operations are complete, CDOT recommends motorists slow down, increase distance between vehicles, follow work zone signage and flagging personnel, and use general caution on the recently treated segment of the highway.
epond@durangoherald.com
