Colorado Sierra road project winding down

GCN Staff

Gilpin County Road & Bridge Director, Earl Robinson, called an official county meeting Saturday morning with the Colorado Sierra subdivision residents to discuss the culmination of over two years of road building through their neighborhood.  This $1.8 million dollar road-widening and improvement project had somewhat of a rocky history, with the first road building contractor going bankrupt and leaving the job.  After the county cleared up that mess from January to June of this year, they awarded a new contract with JR Walton Construction and McCollum’s Excavating.  The new contractors jumped right in and made steady progress until their work was completed late this fall.

The meeting Saturday morning was preceded with over 135 letters going out to homeowners and inviting them to come express their concerns over what had transpired and what the future held now that the contractors were gone.  Commissioners Ken Eye and Jeanne Nicholson were also present to help answer any questions, and newly elected Commissioner Forrest Whitman was on hand to hear the issues at hand.

Robinson started out saying, “I wish I could say I was perfect, and that all engineering was perfect.  Please believe me – this project is not finished.  We will look at concerns and expect to spend the next two years tweaking things.”

Snow Plowing - When a resident asked why it took so long to get the subdivision plowed sometimes, he pointed out a chart depicting the snowfall from last week, and the wide differences in snow accumulations from each of about eight points in the county.  These numbers ranged from two inches up to eight inches, which complicates his trigger process to call out snow plow trucks and graders.  Because the magic number is four inches to release the hounds, it’s hard to determine when and where to send the plows without accurate reports from all regions of the county.  School bus routes take first priority, then secondary roads, then seasonal roads.

Another resident asked why the snowplows always took the majority of the road and didn’t give much right-of-way to oncoming traffic, Robinson explained that the plow trucks were very top heavy and could easily flop over in the steep ditches.  He has instructed all of his drivers to be courteous and slow down when meeting traffic, but asked that residents please give the right of way to the big rigs, even if they have to stop to let the plow pass.  The long wheel based plow trucks have a difficult time making tight corners, and with the 30-35,000 pounds of sand and a high center of gravity, they could easily tip over.  The plows are twelve feet wide on an eight-foot wide truck, and even with the angled plows, it only take about six to eight inches off of the total width. 

Erosion and Trees - Though Robinson pointed out the numerous letters of thanks for a job well done, he also brought up several issues of concerns from those letters.  One issue was regarding erosion; what was going to happen to those trees which now had a portion of their roots exposed, when the rains start?  This resident thought that the large and steep ditches were an overkill given the amount of rain normally received here.  When the trees eventually topple over, who’s responsible for clearing them away?

Answering the question, Robinson said that they didn’t have much choice on the steepness of the ditches – it was either that or slope the ditches back into the residents yards which had proven unpopular.

Using new technology in erosion control management, Robinson said that the contractor had shown valid test results using a type of glue that is sprayed on the ditch embankments, then the grass seed is sprayed into the glued area.  The success with testing done in Wyoming and other similar areas had proved the process, and the county is hoping for a high success rate here as well.  While this grass seeding process should help to keep the banks from eroding away, Robinson acknowledged that the exposed tree roots do weaken the tree stability, and if the trees were to topple the county would take care of the problem.  They expect to lose a few trees, but are hopeful that it will be very few.

“We’ve taken care of six trees that have fallen already, but please call me immediately if another one falls in the road and we’ll get it cut and off the road quickly.  If it’s not blocking the road, the crews will respond during business hours.  Home or property owners will be contacted if possible to see if they want to keep the tree for firewood.  If no one is available and it’s a traffic hazard, the tree will be cut up and removed,” said Robinson.

“I’d like to clear-cut all the trees in the right-of-way as they do elsewhere to avoid these types of problems, but it has been made very clear to me that residents in the county prefer to keep their trees intact when possible.  We spent an extra $6-8,000 in engineering to zig-zag around old growth spruce trees.”

School Bus Accidents - Asked why the school bus routes weren’t sanded the entire way to help avoid the two bus accidents in the neighborhood that happened after last week’s storm, Robinson said that they rely on input from the drivers and the school officials to inform them of where problem issues are, and react accordingly.  Addressing the morning accident, he said that a postal van was blocking the road as a result of an inexperienced driver, and when the bus driver parked the bus and went to see if he could help, his bus just slid down the hill and ended up involved in the accident.

Paved Entrances - A question was asked about the newly asphalted entrances and the cement pumper truck that had slid sideways blocking the entire main entrance to the subdivision at Karlann Drive a few weeks ago, and whether they were too slick. Robinson said, “That driver had no business driving a 90,000 pound vehicle into the subdivision with the two inches of packed snow underfoot.  In defense of the driver, he did a good job of quitting early on before it was impossible to extract him.  Those two entrances are now sanded right away after each snow storm, though I get calls saying there’s too little and too much.”

Signage - Asked why some of the yield signs had been replaced with stop signs after forty years, Robinson said that they follow a book of codes regarding direction for traffic flow.  “Prior to changing traffic control devices, they document calls and it takes up to 50 or more to trigger the need for a change.  If needed, traffic flow engineers are hired to conduct studies to determine what works best for each situation.”

Another long time resident pointed out that the volume of traffic has increased significantly over the years, which necessitated a change to avoid accidents.

Moving Survey Stakes - One resident pointed out that she had seen a resident along a curve move the surveyor stakes 12-14 feet towards the road from where the surveyors had marked the county right of way.  She had expected these stakes to be checked since the curve was scheduled to be straightened out, but the road was not straightened and completed along the moved stakes.  Robinson said this was not known to him and hopes that the county doesn’t have to go back to that persons property and rebuild that curve at great expense.  The county only has a 50-foot right of way, and the surveying cost was $20-25,000.

Keeping in Touch - When asked why it was so difficult to get in touch with the Road & Bridge department this past year to give input on the road building process, Robinson explained that they had tried a broadband wireless type of phone system for awhile, but it soon failed and they went back to a land-line system.  They are also determined to answer the phone with a live person during business hours, and use an answering machine during non-business hours.

Drinking on the Job? - A resident said that she had observed road crews drinking at 4:45 pm one day beside the road and apparently on the job.  She had tried to contact the Road & Bridge department, but since she wasn’t able to get anyone, had contacted the Sheriff’s Office to investigate.  This issue was not really addressed by Robinson, other than to say that the crews had been working long hours due to holiday schedules and that such conduct was not permitted.

Road Building Priority - When asked why the first contractor, Straight Creek, started building the roads in the back of the subdivision and then progressed forward, then the second contractor started at the front and moved backwards, Robinson said that it’s up to the experienced contractors to determine their work flow, but each had good reasons for their process.  The latter contractor, JR Walton, wanted residents to see by example what the rest of their roads would look like, and no additional expense was created to the county by the minor road rebuilding that had to take place because of their large construction equipment running over already completed roads.

Marshy Roads - Asked about the constantly mushy state of the curved area on Apollo Road, Robinson said that they were aware of the problem and would excavate the road and apply rock base as needed to rebuild the road with proper drainage through that low-lying marshy area. Another resident asked about standing water in the ditches due to stumps and other debris, and was told that the county would take care of those problems right away.

Mailbox Post Design - Asked whether the wooden mailbox poles with nailed joints were a long-term solution or just a stop-gap fix, Robinson said that they expected a decent life span from them, but if their plows hit them they would be replaced.  Commissioner Eye said that they were also looking at some metal break-away style poles similar to what’s being used along Highway 119 currently as a long-term solution possibly.  One resident commented that he didn’t feel the baling wire used on his mailbox was an efficient design solution, and Robinson agreed and promised to fix those that were mounted in such a fashion.

Recycled Asphalt Transition - Addressing the pothole issue that will soon be developing where the asphalt entrance quits and the dirt road begins, Robinson said that the price of crushed, recycled asphalt has dropped from $8.90 per ton to $6 per ton, so is being strongly considered for that application.

Mag Chloride - When asked if the county uses or planned to use magnesium chloride on the subdivision roads, and if so what were the repercussions, Robinson said that though it’s a similar solution of chemical, it’s a different application and used only as a dust suppressant maybe once or twice a year in subdivisions.  What residents are experiencing with the slippery mud roads is the small amount of clay that’s used as a binding agent for the Grade Six road base that CDOT sets the standards for.