17 May 2017
Public officials gather at Bridge to Nowhere for orgy of self praise about Interchange projects
On the Smart 160 Trail at the Bridge to Nowhere, a gaggle of CDOT, County, and City officials gathered on Tuesday to honor the work that’s been done on the Grandview Interchange, and to ask for another $100 million dollars to complete it.
CDOT’s Executive Director Shailen Bhatt opened the dialogue by focusing on the importance of completing what the Regional Transportation Director Mike McVaugh described to him as the “Crossroads of the Four Corners.”
Bhatt trash talked the existing Farmington Hill intersection, while saying that the challenges for building US 550 to the Grandview Interchange across the Webb property could be overcome.
One of the biggest challenges will be where to store the 1.82 million cubic yards of material that will be excavated during the removal of the top of Florida Mesa.
McVaugh said that the material could be used to help widen US 550 headed south towards New Mexico.
The Grandview Interchange is a place outside of Durango on US Highway 160 where CDOT officials hope to eventually connect US Highway 550 to a bridge that ends in the side of Florida Mesa.
Currently, it’s called the Bridge to Nowhere because people know the history of CDOT having initially tried to connect the interchange to US 550, except there was a hangup from property owner Chris Webb, who never gave written permission to have the road crossing his property.
CDOT officials said that Webb had given them permission to route the highway across his property, but he later denied having given them permission.
Optimistic about the future of the project, CDOT went ahead with building the 46 million dollar Interchange in Grandview, except it didn’t connect to US 550.
The Interchange currently connects the community on the south side of the US 160 to the north side, where there’s a massive roundabout.
One exit from the roundabout goes down the newly constructed Wilson Gulch Road, which takes travelers to Three Springs and Mercy Medical Center.
