{"id":125873,"date":"2026-04-25T14:59:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T20:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/life-or-death-working-by-the-highway-in-southwest-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T18:40:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T00:40:15","slug":"life-or-death-working-by-the-highway-in-southwest-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/life-or-death-working-by-the-highway-in-southwest-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Life or death\u2019: working by the highway in Southwest Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Colorado
Colorado Department of Transportation spokesperson Adair Christensen and inspector Kim Loveridge walk along orange cones marking a culvert repair work zone on U.S. Highway 160 near Mancos. (Ann Marie Vanderveen\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Off U.S. Highway 160, just outside the town limits of Mancos, workers in bright yellow vests and hard hats repair a culvert beneath passing traffic. Orange cones and large, diamond-shaped signs signal to drivers that this is a work zone, instructing motorists to slow to 40 mph as they approach a temporary stoplight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be life and death for us out here,\u201d said Abe Jessop, the project superintendent.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Colorado Department of Transportation National Work Zone Awareness Week<\/a> in front of the La Plata County Fairgrounds, setting out 64 cones draped with hats and vests to honor the 64 roadside workers killed in Colorado work zones since 1929. Five of those deaths occurred in the past 10 years.<\/p>\n

Roadside construction crews play a critical role in maintaining the safety and longevity of Colorado\u2019s highways. Jessop and his crew are repairing a culvert, a tunnel that allows water to pass beneath the highway, which helps prevent sinkholes from forming under passing vehicles.<\/p>\n

\"A
A culvert repair by Native Son Construction will help prevent erosion from undermining U.S. Highway 160. (Ann Marie Vanderveen\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Jessop cited traffic as the biggest hazard for construction crews in a work zone, with distracted driving and speeding increasing the likelihood that drivers could veer toward workers.<\/p>\n

On April 8, his crew experienced what Colorado Department of Transportation regional communications manager Adair Christensen described as a \u201cnear miss\u201d when a pursuing Colorado State Patrol trooper stopped a dangerous driver a few hundred yards from their work zone near Mesa Verde National Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could\u2019ve been really unfortunate if the trooper didn\u2019t act fast,\u201d Christensen said.<\/p>\n

According to dashcam footage<\/a> from Colorado State Patrol, a trooper began pursuing a Jeep driving in the shoulder of the opposing lane of traffic about 11 a.m. on U.S Highway 160.<\/p>\n

The trooper executed an emergency maneuver by making contact with the suspect\u2019s vehicle, which was traveling 65 mph through the work zone, where the speed limit was reduced to 40 mph. The maneuver stopped the vehicle and prevented the chase from breaching the area where the crew was actively working.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe spun around right next to our last sign. And it was right before he entered into the work zone going head on into traffic too. It was pretty good timing,\u201d said Michael Smith, the traffic control supervisor at the scene.<\/p>\n

<\/p>