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Students take boat to school after bridge closes
GUNNISON, Colo. (KUSA) - The broken bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir outside Gunnison, Colorado, has more cracks than originally thought. The Colorado Department of Transportation’s engineers said they have no idea when it will reopen. Right now, they cannot even get their equipment out on the bridge to complete...
Colorado man imprisoned after threatening financial actions against judges, law enforcement, neighbors
A former Gunnison County man convicted of fraudulently declaring financial awards in his favor and filing for possession of properties owned by jail staff and judges overseeing his court cases was sentenced to 12 years in state prison last week.Brett Andrew "Drew" Nelson, 43, was ordered to serve jail time at the end of a contentious legal battle in which the state attorney general's office stepped in on behalf of lower-level judges and prosecutors who became targets of Nelson.Nelson was accused by one of those judges of using "sovereign citizen" and "constitutionalist" tactics while being increasingly hostile in the courtroom,...
Mountaineer from Rifle climbs to the highest peak of awards from Western Colorado University
Rifle native, Brayden Kammers is being awarded the 2024 Alumni Award for Excellence from Western Colorado University, home of the Mountaineers in Gunnison, Colorado. Kammers graduated from Coal Ridge High School and received a scholarship for cheerleading for attendance at WCU, which he’s still doing. He held the senator, senate chair and vice president titles at different times for involvement in Student Government at WCU. Kammers also was president of Spectrum Club, the LGBTQIA+ club on WCU campus, a university press release stated.
A warning for Aspen: U.S. 50 bridge closure
It is hard for me to understand that the April 18 closure — after inspection teams found a crack in structural beams of the Highway 50 bridge that crosses Blue Mesa Reservoir outside of Gunnison — went unreported in local newspapers. This bridge provides the only winter access...
Disaster emergency declared for US 50 bridge closure over Blue Mesa Reservoir
Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera has verbally declared a disaster emergency after the U.S. Highway 50 bridge over the Blue Mesa Reservoir was closed last week. The declaration will help support the response and recovery with a coordinated framework for the statewide response to reopen the bridge. The declaration also initiated the process for requesting federal assistance which includes supplemental highway funding. The Colorado Department of Transportation shut down the bridge last week due to concerns for bridge safety after cracking was noticed. The bridge closure is located between Gunnison and Montrose from U.S. 50 mile marker 131, the intersection with Colorado Highway...
KEBLER EFFORT:
County and state road crews started work this week to get Kebler Pass Road open earlier than normal. The hope is to provide another route between Gunnison and Montrose since Highway 50 is closed to traffic due to defects in the Middle Bridge. Thank an elf when you see them! Photo by Robby Lloyd.
It is what it is….so show some grace
Ahhhh, the never surprising and always constant spring question is arising a bit earlier than usual this year — Is Kebler open yet? No. But it will probably be open as early as ever this year. And that is only because a calamitous structural defect discovered in a bridge crossing Blue Mesa Reservoir by the Dillon Pinnacles closed that bridge on April 18 making any quick trip between Gunnison County and Montrose pretty much impossible. It is what it is. Despite criticism from the conspiracy theorists trolling social media and people wondering why Joe Biden didn’t obviously see this coming and get on it a couple years ago, the response from state and local officials has been pretty darn good in a pretty bad situation.
No timeline for Highway 50 bridge reopening
Kebler, Lake City Cutoff, boats all coming into play. Almost a week after suddenly closing the so-called Middle Bridge on Highway 50 near the Dillon Pinnacles there is no anticipated timeline for when the bridge might reopen to traffic. While not making any official projections, local and state officials are starting to prepare for a possible closure that lasts into the busy summer tourism season.
Neighbors near the bridge step up to deal with a bad situation
In a small community, adversity tends to bring neighbors together. That is the case with the closing of Highway 50 near the Dillon Pinnacles due to defects discovered in the Middle Bridge that spans Blue Mesa Reservoir. A small community of people live and work in that area, whether in rural Gunnison County, Sapinero or Arrowhead.
High-mountain unpaved road provides partial solution to 354-mile detour in Colorado
A partial solution has been found for a massive six-hour 354-mile detour that's in place for those traveling between Montrose and Gunnison due to a cracked bridge along US Highway 50. According to the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office, County Road 26 will be open twice a day as of April 22 for critical local travel. The travel along this route will be managed through the use of pilot vehicles, which will be used to lead passenger vehicles along the road. ...
Students ferrying to school amid bridge closure
Some of my favorite journalism stories are the ones I like to call “slice of life” stories — those that give us a peek into people’s daily routines that can feel ordinary to one reader and extraordinary to the next. Yesterday, I talked with a parent...
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