Long detours are expected for approximately 3,600 vehicle trips per day
Traffic crosses a Florida Road (County Road 240) bridge Friday that is scheduled to be replaced beginning Wednesday and running through June 16 in the 8000 block of Florida Road. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
A major traffic artery linking the city of Durango with several outlying subdivisions in northeast La Plata County will be closed for about three weeks starting Wednesday to replace the bridge deck.
The highway project will require a significant detour for hundreds of residents who commute or nearly daily on Florida Road (County Road 240) for work and city services.
The bridge deck replacement is scheduled to begin Wednesday and end June 16 in the 8000 block of Florida Road, which is about 6 miles northeast of the city limits and half a mile northeast of County Road. 248. It will affect residents living in Los Ranchitos. , Aspen Trails and Tween Lakes subdivisions, among others.
The county has identified detours through county roads 245, 501 and 502. The route drivers take will depend in part on where they live.
Map describing the road closure and diversion routes, published by the Partido de La Plata.
And the length of the detour will vary depending on where residents live. A trip from Helen’s Corner to just south of City Market in Durango, a 13.2-mile drive via Florida Road, typically takes 19 minutes. But that will increase to 32.6 miles and 44 minutes through the detour.
Based on 2022 data, the county estimates that about 3,600 daily trips will be disrupted by road closures.
John Debbink, a resident of the Aspen Trials subdivision, estimates the highway closure will add 45 minutes to his nearly daily commute to Durango.
“If it creates safer road conditions, the disruption is fine,” he said. “It had to happen at some point.”
The timing of the repair was determined with “several priorities in mind,” including avoiding school bus schedules, holiday weekends and peak monsoons, county spokesman Ted Holteen said.
“The project will require the complete removal of the existing bridge deck structure, which was built in 1982, so single lane passage is not possible and both lanes of traffic will be closed,” the county said in a statement. press. “…We understand the inconvenience this detour will cause area residents and will work to complete the project as quickly as possible.”
The construction of the bridge is part of a deck replacement for two bridges, which La Plata County contracted for for the year. The first replacement, which took place at County Road 245, was completed about a week ahead of schedule and under budget.
The Florida Road Bridge deck replacement is anticipated to cost $464,703.
Actual construction time will depend to some extent on weather conditions and worker schedules.
