By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Its that time again, for lane closures and two way traffic on Raton Pass as Fisher Sand and Gravel will begin work on May 6, 2024, but wait it won’t be as bad as it has been the last couple of years.
According to Frank Lozano of Fisher Sand and Gravel they will begin work on the rock face just up from the 454 overpass. With that work there will only be a short lane closure around the work area, not the all the way up the pass like last year. Lozano indicated that they want to keep the cross overs and two way traffic down to a minimum. The rock work will include removing one big boulder that is on the verge of falling. When that is done they will close both north and south bound lanes for just under 20 minutes to bring the boulder down. The closure is necessary for public safety and just in case the pieces of the boulder were to fly over into the south bound lanes.
Eight foot rock fencing will go up in the area as part of the project. The rock work should take about two months or possibly into the middle of July.
Along with the rock work the company will be doing some shoulder work and building a cross over to handle traffic while some of the rock shaving takes place. Once the rock work is complete the company will begin the milling process and repaving. At that point traffic will be moved over to one lane at a time on the side that the milling work is being done. Lozano noted that he expects the repaving work which will mill out eight inches of the current pavement to last into next year. He noted there is a remote chance that the paving could be done this year but he felt like that was stretching it.
When asked about work spilling into holidays he told the crowd that if a holiday is coming up they would postpone the work until after the holiday, he added we won’t mill up the asphalt and leave a big trench there for travelers to have to work around. The company will keep the single lanes down to only about a mile at a time or in the area that they are working.
i get that falling rocks are a legitimate safety concern on the pass, but couldn’t the state spend money on the million potholes that cover nearly all of both northbound lanes and are actually an immediate concern?! The start is sure not going to pay for the people’s bent rims or damaged property and the potholes could swallow my Corolla whole at this point. So disappointing.