U.S. Highway 550 will close from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday between Molas Pass and Silverton.
Vehicles traveling northbound between Durango and Silverton will be stopped at mile marker 64 on Molas Pass, and southbound vehicles traveling from Silverton will be stopped at mile marker 70 in Silverton, according to a Tuesday news release from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The closure will allow crews to perform chip seal operations – a preventative road maintenance treatment that involves spraying a heated liquid asphalt emulsion onto the pavement, covering it with crushed gravel and compacting the surface with rollers – between mile marker 64 and 70.
The complete road closure is necessary to ensure safety along the narrow portion of highway, the release said.
An alternative, westerly route between Durango and Ridgway is recommended to motorists during the closure.
The detour route, which will add about an hour of additional driving time between Durango and Ridgway, is as follows:
To ensure maximum safety after chip seal operations are complete, CDOT recommends motorists slow down, increase distance between vehicles, follow work zone signage and flagging personnel, and use general caution on the recently treated segment of the highway.
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