When high water overwhelmed a culvert on Colorado 133 this week, it collapsed the road above, cutting off access between Somerset and Paonia. Although help is on the way in the form of a temporary bridge, the loss of access is affecting agriculture, industry and potentially tourism in the North Fork Valley, not just delaying daily travel.
Mine workers are crossing Colorado 133 by foot to waiting shuttles, Gunnison Sheriff Adam Murdie said.
At least one cattle rancher plans to move his cow-calf operation on foot too, using the Fire Mountain Canal access road — that will take days, but will spare him the significant cost of hauling them by truck via a 200-mile detour, said Dixie Luke, a Hotchkiss rancher and past president of the Fire Mountain Canal board.
This is the time of year when cattle and sheep producers move their herds from lower valleys to summer range.
“For some of them, its moving time and there’s no way to get even a livestock trailer pulled by a pickup across the area where the damage is,” Luke said Friday.
Normally, the trip costs $350 to $450, but if the haulers have to drive to Grand Junction, Carbondale, over the pass and down to ranches, it could cost $1,500. That’s per load. For people whose margins are already tight, that’s a hard burden.
“That’s a pretty good chunk,” said Luke. “ … He doesn’t feel like he can pay $1,500 (per load) to get the cattle up there. For me, I think our cows will get on a truck, because we have to go further up the valley.”
Cows and calves will lose weight on a two- to three-day cattle drive, Luke explained, so she’s decided to pay for transport.
Luke and others reached out to Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, who said he spoke with the Colorado Department of Transportation Director Shoshana Lew and engineers.
“It’s got everyone’s attention. They’ve brought us up to speed with what’s going on with road repairs up there,” Catlin said Friday, the same day he announced CDOT would be using emergency funds to install a temporary bridge across the damage while repairs are made.
“It’s going to take them a few weeks. In the meantime, they’re giving local people credentials to use a canal bank road,” Catlin said. Right now, the trip between Paonia and Somerset and points between is “going from a 10-mile drive to a 200-mile drive,” he added.
Catlin said CDOT is using emergency funds to get a bridge structure and repair the washout on CO 133 so that Somerset (Gunnison County) and Paonia (Delta County) can have direct connection again.
CDOT will first install a temporary, two-lane bridge that will be in place for the next three to four weeks until permanent repairs can be completed during the summer. Once that temporary bridge is in place, the highway will be fully open to all traffic except for oversized loads, a CDOT spokeswoman said.
Currently, CDOT is keeping flaggers at the closure point around the clock.
The general public is not allowed to use the Fire Mountain Canal access road to get around the damage. Only Somerset residents, those making necessary deliveries, emergency vehicles and others who have been credentialed through the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office can use the access road to route around the sinkhole damage on 133. People with questions about the local access can contact the hotline at 970-641-7977, however, most people who would qualify for the access have already received the credentials, according to CDOT.
Complicating matters: a rockslide at mile point 43 (north side of McClure Pass) closed the highway on both north and southbound lanes; as of Friday at 4 p.m., it had not been reopened; CDOT said it was to remain closed overnight.
“The road is closed,” Murdie said. “It’s not just closed from that point, it’s closed from rockslides on the other side of the mountain as well.”
He’s working with Pitkin County to have in place sufficient law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services. “We can get to Somerset because of a real narrow portion of a two-track road we can loop around, but it’s starting to eat away at that, too. We don’t know how much longer that will work,” Murdie said.
Pitkin will be handling calls for Marble once McClure Pass is cleared of rockslide damage, he said.
Those working at the West Elk Mine or the Marble quarry have been parking at the old road to the Valley Mine, then walking around the damage on 133, to catch shuttles provided by their employers; Murdie said that has been working well so far.
“We really feel for our friends in Somerset,” Delta County Commissioner Wendell Koontz said. Agencies in Delta County, including Paonia Fire and the county emergency manager, have been helping with the crisis.
“We provide whatever support we’re asked to provide. I’ve been really impressed with the professionalism and cooperation of everyone involved, from CDOT, Gunnison County, law enforcement and private companies (the mines),” he said.
Luke said the canal board, Delta County Livestock Association, commissioners and Gunnison County have all done a good job trying to address the situation — and ranchers aren’t the only ones affected, she said.
“I laid awake last night, thinking of this. We’re kind of shortsighted in this, because it’s our emergency right now, but really, it’s the whole North Fork,” Luke said. She pointed out event venues, wineries and orchards that rely heavily on summer tourism trade, as well as new restaurants opening in Hotchkiss.
“The sooner we can get it repaired, the better off we’re going to be,” Luke said.
She noted there is still water coming down the draw, which presents a safety issue for those who might be repairing the sinkhole damage.
“We may be at the tip of the iceberg with the issues we’re going to have with water and flooding,” Luke said.