Gypsum to add new roundabout by end of summer
Work at Valley Road, U.S. Highway 6 will take place over school's summer break
Scott Miller/Vail Daily
Gypsum will add a roundabout this year at one of the town’s primary intersections.
Bids were let Friday for a complicated project at the intersection of U.S. Highway 6 and Valley Road, just west of Eagle Valley High School. Work is expected to begin June 5, the last day of school, with the roundabout open to traffic on Aug. 18, the first day of the new school year.
This is the most complex of the town’s several recent roundabout projects, and Matt Figgs of the town’s engineering department went over the details at an April 10 meeting at Gypsum Town Hall. That meeting also updated residents about several other projects around town.
The Valley Road project, when finished, will eliminate the stoplight at the entrance to the high school, eliminating the westbound left turns into the high school. Westbound traffic will have to go to the Valley Road roundabout and turn around to get back to the high school. Eastbound left turns into the Oakridge Drive commercial area will be permitted. The project will also open up the street between Oakridge Court and Estes Lane.
There will be a detour around the project during construction.
Support Local Journalism
And another roundabout
The town, in partnership with Eagle County and the Siena Lake subdivision, will build another roundabout this year on Cooley Mesa Road near the Eagle County Regional Airport.
Town Engineer Jacob Rivera said that roundabout will be roughly the same size as the one on the south side of the town’s Interstate 70 interchange, and will able to accommodate future growth at the airport. That project is likely to start work in July, and construction could last into 2026. Rivera said there’s enough space in that area to keep two lanes on the road open at all times while construction is taking place.
Construction will also rebuild that section of road, which Rivera said has been deteriorating for some time.
Other road work in town will include warranty work on Highway 6 between Cooley Mesa Road about a mile to the east. Rivera said the work on that stretch of road didn’t meet the specifications of the original contract and will be repaired at no cost to the town.
Another project will turn the current parking lot on the north side of the I-70 interchange into a more formal park and ride lot, which it’s become since the roundabout has been finished.
Other road work will include some repaving around town.
The wastewater plant
The town this year will also continue work on its three-year, $87 million project to build a new wastewater treatment plant.
The town is also working on repairs to its water treatment plant several miles up Valley Road, as well as the 1 million storage tank on the east end of town.
Town residents had questions about many of the projects, but many people wanted to know about the status of a possible I-70 interchange to serve the airport. Some said they’d like to see that interchange built before the town approved more housing for the town.
The interchange has been discussed for years. The Colorado Department of Transportation in the early 2000s acquired right of way for the project, and Eagle County had a design for the project, but a 2009 application for federal funding — then estimated at $70 million — was rejected.
Town manager Jeremy Rietmann said town officials are working hard on plans for the interchange, and have the cooperation of county officials. Planning now is working on less expensive alternatives, Rietmann said, noting that there are now public safety and other reasons to build the interchange. But federal funding will still be required before work can begin, he said.
