Comments Open for Highway 50 Pueblo to Kansas Project
Barbara Crimond | Jul 14, 2016 | Comments 0
Add one more study for the highways in southeast Colorado. Prowers County has the long-discussed Reliever Route, the Ports to Plains Corridor which has been upgrading Highway 287 for years, the start of Lamar’s Main Street renovations set to begin this October and now the CDOT Highway 50 East Corridor project which was presented to the community this past Monday, July 11th.
CDOT representatives discussed the 150 mile project, which is intended to create a four lane highway between Pueblo and the Kansas state line. The multi-phase project is in a Tier 1 level which incorporates an EIS, Environmental Impact Study, for the towns along the route and allows for public comment, according to Dan Dahlke, a project team member who was one of several CDOT representatives who explained the specifics on the project, estimated to cost over $1 billion. “That price may be a little low as the estimate was done in 2008, so it’s safe to say the cost has gone up at this point,” he stated. Dahlke said the public hearings provide maps of alternative routes around each of the communities on the route which will stop just short of the Kansas/Colorado line past Holly. “We are holding back at that point to see what the Kansas operation will entail,” he added.
Funding and additional studies will determine the speed of the project’s development which is still years away from putting the first shovel in the ground. “We are going to work with state and federal funds and the lane expansion will start in the areas between the towns first. We won’t just start at Pueblo and work our way east, adding several miles at a time when funding allows. We’ll connect the communities last, once we have the rural stretches completed. Right now, we’re planning to just go to three lanes or have some areas where we have expanded the roadways into a safer passing lane,” he said, similar to the portion of Highway 50 east of Hasty which was opened into a three lane passing route last year.
Residents will have approximately until mid-September to send their comments to state authorities regarding the project. They may be emailed to cdot.us50east@atkinsglobal.com. This is the construction company that is working on the project’s plans.
By Russ Baldwin
Filed Under: Agriculture • City of Granada • City of Holly • City of Lamar • City of Wiley • Consumer Issues • County • Economy • Featured • Public Safety • Tourism • Transportation
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