Work is under way on a bridge replacement and water diversion project in the Falcon area that is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.The Colorado Department of Transportation project replaces a 77-year-old bridge with a relocated concrete box culvert along U.S. Highway 24, about two miles northeast of Falcon. Additional work includes asphalt paving, detour construction, erosion control work and seeding.CDOT also is constructing a new channel downstream of the new box culvert to provide added flood protection for nearby properties. This phase includes construction of a concrete box culvert on Bluegill Drive, rock and stone placement, wetland mitigation and channel work.Project hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Traffic stops will take place for truck hauling operations, with only minor delays. Occasionally, the speed limit will be reduced to 30 mph to allow safe travel through the area during roadside construction activities.Traffic will shift slightly north onto the new paved detour, adjacent to U.S. Highway 24, in early January. The detour speed limit will be 40 mph. Traffic is scheduled to shift back to the U.S. Highway 24 alignment in March.Scott Contracting Inc., of Henderson, Colo., is the contractor for the $3.5 million project, all of which is funded by the ARRA. Construction is scheduled for completion in May 2010.Weekly lane closure information about this project and others will be available at www.dot.state.co.us/TravelInfo/currentcond/ or by calling 511.Colorado will receive more than $400 million for transportation projects and $103 million for transit projects. For more information about how Colorado is putting the Recovery Act to work, visit www.colorado.gov/recovery.
