The Federal Highway Administration signed off on a proposed route to connect U.S. Highway 550/160 with the Grandview interchange, enabling the Colorado Department of Transportation to begin designing and working to obtain funding for the project.
Construction of the highway realignment would connect the realigned U.S. Highway 550 to the Bridge to Nowhere and U.S. Highway 160, removing a years-long roadblock to development in Grandview.
It comes nine years after the last record of decision on the connection, which has been plagued by alignment issues that caused delays. CDOT was asked to re-evaluate an earlier alignment to identify one that caused fewer impacts to historic properties, including the Webb Ranch.
Now, CDOT can move forward on connecting U.S. highways 550 and 160 at the Grandview interchange.
“It’s a very exciting step,” said Nancy Shanks, a CDOT spokeswoman.
The preferred alternative for which the Federal Highway Administration issued a record of decision last week moves the highway west, pushing it closer to the edge of the mesa. The highway would cross through portions of the Craig Limousin Ranch and the Webb Ranch, owned by Martha and Chris Webb, before connecting with a roundabout and the Bridge to Nowhere.
Designing and building the highway realignment carries an estimated cost of $91 million to build four lanes. If the highway realignment begins as two lanes, it would cost $75 million.
“This has been a long process, but we have reached a good place,” CDOT Region 5 Transportation Director Kerrie Neet said in a news release. “Recent collaboration with impacted property owners and community stakeholders has resulted in a design modification to the preferred alternative that greatly reduces impacts to historical resources.”
The Grandview interchange was constructed in 2008 at a cost of $47 million. It has seen little use in the years since.
Connecting the highways could prove to be a linchpin for development in Grandview.
The Southern Ute Growth Fund has major property interests in the area, including the 37-acre Crader property along Wilson Gulch Road that is viewed as a potential future site for a big-box store.
The Growth Fund is also the force behind Three Springs, a 680-acre development with more than 300 homes and counting. Three Springs recently broke ground on a 101-unit apartment complex.
“We are in favor of the revised alignment, and were heavily involved with the property owners and CDOT to effect this proposed alignment,” said Patrick Vaughn, president of the Growth Fund’s Real Estate Group.
The unfinished project has been a source of friction between local and state officials. In March, City Councilor Sweetie Marbury confronted CDOT Executive Director Shailen Bhatt at a meet-and-greet event.
Marbury also lobbied for funding for the project when Gov. John Hickenlooper toured the Bridge to Nowhere last May.
“It’s all great news for Durango, and I look forward to the Bridge to the Future,” she said Wednesday.
