The Gilpin RE-1 School District and ESCO Construction held an informational meeting on May 29, 2024, in the school multi-purpose room at 6:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting was to explain the sewer project construction schedule and how traffic on Highway 119 would be affected.

Superintendent David MacKenzie started the meeting by discussing the need for the project and the decision to hook up to the Black Hawk Central City Sanitation District (BHCCSD).

MacKenzie said that the school district onsite wastewater treatment plant had been designated as noncompliant for groundwater discharge or total dissolved solids for as long as he had been the district superintendent and these discharge requirements had become even more stringent in recent years.

The RE-1 school board researched different options for rectifying the situation and felt connecting with BHCCSD was the most cost-effective, and permanent, solution.

ESCO Construction Project Manager Kyle Griffin was the spokesperson for ESCO and went through the pipeline route, timelines for construction, and traffic control considerations.

Griffin said that the project consists of three miles of sewer pipe to be installed in the northbound lane of Highway 119. There will be 84 manholes created. Asphalt will then be laid down to restore the highway.

Griffin hoped to get the construction process started toward the end of June. He estimated that it will take ten months of construction to finish. Construction will be halted in the winter when it becomes too cold to spread asphalt. Highway 119 will return to two lanes during the winter months.

Construction will begin in Black Hawk near the fire station and work north to the school. The finish point will be just below the elementary school at the Paradise Valley turnoff.

There will be 13 or 14 road closure setups, each 1,500 to 3,000 feet in length. Each closure will restrict Highway 119 to one lane and require traffic control around the clock.

When crews aren’t working, temporary traffic signals will be set up on each side of the closed section to control the flow of traffic. The traffic signals will be set to last for three to five minutes, depending on the distance of the closure. Speeds in the construction zone will be reduced to 35 M.P.H.

In the event of an emergency, ESCO can remotely control the traffic signals to allow traffic to flow in a particular direction.

The Hidden Treasure trailhead will be closed when construction passes it, but will be kept open as much as possible.

Griffin spoke about the three intersections that will be crossed: at Hughesville Road, Apex Valley Road, and Paradise Valley Parkway. Each intersection will take one to three days to cross.

Sharon Perea, who lives on Hughesville Road, was concerned that drivers would take Hughesville to bypass the construction, creating a dust problem for residents.

Gilpin County Director of Public Works John Combs said that the County applies dust suppressant on Dory Hill Road, but it is not in the 2024 budget for Hughesville.

Griffin said that the company is not liable for what the traveling public does. Combs said he would check with County management and the County Attorney to see if there was som

e way they could work with ESCO to pay for applying dust control on Hughesville Road to avoid environmental problems for residents.

Combs said he would also check to see if the County could put up traffic signs to discourage use by non-residents. Hughesville will be at about the halfway point of the project.

The Apex Valley Road intersection will have additional traffic control to handle traffic turning on to Highway 119. The traffic signals will need to be coordinated with the direction traffic is flowing at the moment.

The Gilpin Ambulance Authority stations ambulances off Apex to handle calls in the casinos and further north in the county. Their operations are going to be significantly impacted by this construction.

The last intersection, at Paradise Valley Parkway, is complicated by lack of an alternate exit out of the Paradise Valley subdivision. It is also the termination point for the pipeline, which will have to cross the highway to get to the west side, so the intersection will be tied up for an extended period of time.

Griffin stated that the biggest uncertainty in the construction timeline will be how much rock excavation will be required. He said that ESCO has the experience and equipment to dig through rock but using rippers and hydraulic hammers to pulverize it would take additional time.

MacKenzie concluded the meeting by saying he looked forward to finishing the project and having the school campus in full compliance with state health regulations. It has been on his to-do list since he was hired eleven years ago.

For more information about the Gilpin County School District Wastewater Interconnect project contact ESCO Construction Project Manager Kyle Griffin at 720-788-7003 or kgriffin@escomailbox.com.