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01-27-2009, 10:00 PM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2007
8 posts, read 8,627 times
Reputation: 21
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Moving to Montrose
Hi,
I'll be moving my family to Montrose in June and I have a question for anybody that is familiar with the road conditions from Durango to Montrose on 550. Something I read said that it could best be described as "harrowing". I'll be driving a 22' U-Haul and I'm trying to decide if I want to tow my car behind it. I didn't especially like driving that setup in flat conditions so this move has got me kind of worried.
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01-27-2009, 10:14 PM
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Curmudgeonly Colo. native
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Join Date: Mar 2007
3,438 posts, read 3,492,454 times
Reputation: 2389
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kkelloww
Hi,
I'll be moving my family to Montrose in June and I have a question for anybody that is familiar with the road conditions from Durango to Montrose on 550. Something I read said that it could best be described as "harrowing". I'll be driving a 22' U-Haul and I'm trying to decide if I want to tow my car behind it. I didn't especially like driving that setup in flat conditions so this move has got me kind of worried.
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Unless you are a very experienced mountain driver, driving a U-Haul over US 550 is borderline foolhardy. It is a two-lane road, narrow in some spots, with areas where there is not even room for a guard-rail or shoulder (complete with 800' dropoffs). There are also steep grades with switchbacks.
Before somebody pipes up and says I'm full of it--I've been driving that road fairly regularly for nearly four decades--and spent some of those when I was much younger towing large gooseneck trailers (livestock) over it--winter and summer.
This web photo pretty much explains it:
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01-27-2009, 10:28 PM
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Senior Member
Status:
"Happy Thanksgiving"
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Pueblo - Colorado's Second City
2,766 posts, read 1,479,451 times
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You are right about the road but I do not understand why in the 21st century CDOT is unable to put guard rails on all roads that need them.
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01-27-2009, 10:41 PM
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Curmudgeonly Colo. native
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Join Date: Mar 2007
3,438 posts, read 3,492,454 times
Reputation: 2389
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Josseppie
You are right about the road but I do not understand why in the 21st century CDOT is unable to put guard rails on all roads that need them.
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Apparently, you have never driven 550--there is no space for them in many places. There are many places on the road where it is narrower than what shows in the photo . . . |
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01-27-2009, 10:45 PM
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Senior Member
Status:
"Happy Thanksgiving"
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Pueblo - Colorado's Second City
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I admit I am not a expert but can't they drill it in the side on the road and anchor it there? They made room for I-70 in the Glenwood Canyon...
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01-27-2009, 11:18 PM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2007
8 posts, read 8,627 times
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Jazz, how about from Grand Junction south?
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01-27-2009, 11:19 PM
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Veteran Cosmic Moodyfan!
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Western Colorado
5,810 posts, read 2,373,822 times
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Josseppie- Jazzlover is absolutely right. There are a lot of of spots there where you are literally driving off the cliff, particularly 5 miles from the summit coming up from Ouray. And then there are the switchbacks. The speed limit going through there is 10 to 15 m.p.h. That one stretch there are 9 or 10 switchbacks in a one mile stretch. It is a very dangerous road.
Then there are the snowslides. Coming southbound from Ouray they erected a monument a few hundred feet from the snowshed to honor the state workers who have lost their lives driving for a living, clearing snow to keep the roads open. They didn't find one of them until the next Spring.
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01-27-2009, 11:22 PM
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Senior Member
Status:
"Happy Thanksgiving"
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Pueblo - Colorado's Second City
2,766 posts, read 1,479,451 times
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It is highway 50 to Grand junction so it should not be that bad.
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01-27-2009, 11:27 PM
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Senior Member
Status:
"Happy Thanksgiving"
(set 8 days ago)
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Pueblo - Colorado's Second City
2,766 posts, read 1,479,451 times
Reputation: 308
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DOUBLE H
Josseppie- Jazzlover is absolutely right. There are a lot of of spots there where you are literally driving off the cliff, particularly 5 miles from the summit coming up from Ouray. And then there are the switchbacks. The speed limit going through there is 10 to 15 m.p.h. That one stretch there are 9 or 10 switchbacks in a one mile stretch. It is a very dangerous road.
Then there are the snowslides. Coming southbound from Ouray they erected a monument a few hundred feet from the snowshed to honor the state workers who have lost their lives driving for a living, clearing snow to keep the roads open. They didn't find one of them until the next Spring.
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I am sure he is right, I know very little about road construction. To be honest I try to avoid roads like 550 as much as I can and stick to 4 lane highways or major 2 lane roads like Highway 50. |
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01-27-2009, 11:29 PM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2007
8 posts, read 8,627 times
Reputation: 21
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Well, for me that picture was worth a 1,000 words. I'm not going that way. Is highway 50 nice, wide, and flat between Grand Junction and Montrose?
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