Little Blue Creek Canyon Project

Little Blue Creek Canyon Project (November Update)

By Ursula Nizalowski

Near Cimarron, Colorado, there is a narrow passageway called Blue Creek Canyon. It is also known as Little Blue Creek Canyon because the creek itself is a combination of Little Blue Creek and Big Blue Creek. Though because of its steep walls and winding turns, Little Blue Creek Canyon became notorious for the high number of accidents that occurred there “Between 2000 and 2018” with “230 crashes…67 injuries, 156 instances of property damage, and eight fatalities” according to the High Country Shopper newspaper. For this reason, the Federal Highway Administration decided to create the Little Blue Creek Canyon Project.

Little Blue Creek Canyon Project

What Is The Little Blue Creek Canyon Project?

In the beginning, this project was proposed by many government organizations including the “Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)/Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFLHD), CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) and American Civil Constructors Mountain West” with the “U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park Service” listed as major stakeholders according to CDOT’s website. Meanwhile, funding was provided by CDOT itself along with the Federal Lands Access Program which was made to improve transportation on federal lands. The goal of the Little Blue Creek Canyon Project is to improve the section of US Highway 50 that goes through Blue Creek Canyon in order to make it safer for drivers. Among the things to be improved for the Blue Creek Canyon section is making the highway wider, having better alignment, replacing the guard rails and signs with new ones, and installing a rockfall catchment fence. Since construction began in the spring of 2021, the Blue Creek Canyon route has had periods of closure throughout the year causing drivers to make detours when necessary.