Crossing on foot at U.S. Highway 160 and Beech Street in Mancos is slated to get a bit easier, as the town has approved an intergovernmental agreement with Colorado Department of Transportation to construct a crosswalk and pedestrian refuge at the intersection.
The crosswalk will have a pedestrian refuge as well as a rectangular rapid flashing beacon that alerts drivers when someone is waiting to cross.
Improving safety at the intersection has been a priority of Mancos residents and the Board of Trustees for several years, said Town Administrator Andrea Phillips at the July 8 town board meeting. "It's been a long time coming," added trustee Queenie Barz.
The crosswalk improvements aim to provide an alternative cross place for school-bound pedestrians. Currently, the only crosswalk for pedestrians is at the U.S. 160/Highway 184 intersection.
The $105,484 project is funded largely by a federal Transportation Alternatives Program grant that was secured by the town in October 2014 and is administered by CDOT.
Funds through the TAP grant will pay for 80 percent of the project, with the town providing covering the remainder, $30,717, as a match.
Russell Engineering and Design of Durango, the sole bidder on the project, was awarded the contract. Russell's estimates for the Engineering and Design portion of the contract came in at $12,000 more than what the town budgeted for the project, but Phillips said that figure was a "not to exceed amount" and it could actually turn out lower.
"The timeline would be, as soon as we enter into the IGA (intergovernmental agreement) we can let Russell start working on the Engineering and Design, and they could start working on it this fall and then maybe have it completed by spring 2016," Phillips said.
The board also voted to approve a $10,000 grant match to go toward a multi-jurisdictional effort to improve law enforcement radio communications.
The City of Cortez is the lead agency seeking a Department of Local Affairs grant to fund the installation of a radio town on Caviness Mountain to improve radio functions in town.
Town Marshal John Cox said there's already a television tower on the mountain, and the tower's ownership has agreed to upgrade the existing facility and place the 800 Mhz radio equipment there.
"We really struggle to get good coverage," said Cox. "Every day we work, our radios at some point during the day don't work."
Cox said a particular problem area is in front of the high school on Grand Street.
Testing has indicated almost 100 percent reception/transmission ability within the Town of Mancos with the installation of this new equipment.
The radio tower improvements will also benefit all emergency first responders in eastern Montezuma and western La Plata counties, he said.