CANON CITY – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Royal Gorge Field Office is temporarily closing BLM Road 5969, which provides western access to the Point Barr Recreation Area located near Wellsville, Colorado. Heavy rains in summer 2015 and 2016 caused substantial damage to a retaining wall that supports the road.
“Public safety is our number one concern with this road closure,” said Royal Gorge Field Office Manager Keith Berger. “We are working with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to explore options for repair and would like to reopen the road as soon as possible.”
The closure only applies to motorized travel in the area directly affected by the damaged retaining wall. The eastern access route to Point Barr will remain open; however, high clearance vehicles are advised.”
Contact: Kyle Sullivan, Public Affairs Specialist, 719-269-8553
“There is currently a barricade at the two locations marked with X’s on the map. The stability issue is located in between the closures, near the western side of the railroad tunnel, where significant amounts of erosion has undercut a part of the road. This was repaired last year with improper support materials (garden wall blocks) which have now begun to fail (some have been knocked out completely).”
