The last piece of repair work on the US Highway 50 Middle Bridge and US 50 Lake Fork Bridge, is set to begin May 12, as crews conduct paint operations on the new steel.

Last year, the Colorado Department of Transportation closed the US 50 Middle Bridge, located at Blue Mesa Reservoir between Gunnison and Montrose, to protect public safety after several steel weld cracks were observed during a special inspection. Work to install steel plates beneath both bridges continued through much of 2024 and now, after a winter project shutdown, crews are returning to apply a final coat of paint to the newly repaired steel.

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Painting work on the US 50 Middle Bridge is scheduled to start Monday, May 12, and when that bridge is completed, crews will shift focus to the US 50 Lake Fork Bridge.

"After the burden of last year's emergency closure, we're pleased to announce that this final phase of work will have only a minimal impact on people traveling US 50 between Montrose and Gunnison," said CDOT Regional Transportation Director Jason Smith. "This last phase of work will bring to a close what was an amazing demonstration of successful coordination between numerous government and contracted agencies in order to tackle and accomplish this significant feat."

This painting work is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.

Travel Impacts

• Nighttime work hours 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., Sunday through Friday
• Travel over each bridge will be reduced to a single lane
• Flaggers will direct single-lane travel over each bridge
• The speed limit will be reduced to 35 mph through the work zone