In 2004, James Gores and Associates was hired by Fremont County to design general safety upgrades for Lyons Valley Road. This upgrade program included adding safety shoulders and constructing slopes to AASHTO standards and adding mailbox turnouts. Additionally, improved sight distances and intersection alignments were achieved.   Reconstructing selected sections of the roadway resolved subsoil heaving and surface buckling problems. Placing a pavement leveling course and then an overlay improved strength and rideability of this 45 year old roadway. Drainage improvements, pipe encasing a parallel canal and new fencing added to the safety of the finished project. 

 

The project extends the entire seven miles of Lyons Valley Road between State Highway 789 to State Highway 28. To accommodate the county’s funding limitations the project was broken into two separate projects. Phase I of the project involved the southern 3.3 miles of road.

 

Phase I of the project was bid in May 2006.  The contractor’s workload necessitated a mid-summer start of construction. Working with James Gores and Associates it was determined that all slope and drainage work would be accomplished before the onset of winter, when construction was shut down. This left the surface intact over winter months. Construction resumed in the spring of 2007 and paving was accomplished by late July.

 

Phase II of the project was bid in September 2007. The contractor began work in the fall and shut down for winter. Minor dirt work and paving were accomplished in the spring and summer of 2008. Paving was completed in August 2008 with project completion in early September 2008.