Complaints against construction company on hwy 36, Lyons – Estes Pk

Numerous people have been complaining online on Facebook about the ongoing construction on Highway Colo 36, between Lyons and Estes Park. In particular, people who live in Pinewood Springs have tolerated loud noises from trucks, construction equipment and workers, plus bright flood lights for months in their “town center,” along highway 36 Also, many have experienced long waits along highway 36 to let single-lane traffic go by, as much as 60 minutes. But worse of all, most of the time, there is no work going on, as they drive through by the blocked lane.

One woman stated that this past week, she had to drive the road four times in one night, due to a commitment, and each time was stopped for one hour, and she video-taped the drive, showing that there was no construction going on.

Lyons Recorder did an article on “local road construction” where we stated that we talked to the project leader and the construction company, and we were told that the work has been extended through the end of October.

Below we have a copy of a text message sent, September 28, 2022, to one of the Pinewood Springs residents from CDOT about the non-compliance, and resulting penalties, that Crown Construction has been given, as well as who to contact to place a complaint. We might suggest to you to first see what changes have been implemented this first week of October. Many have already seen fewer construction stops zones, and/or shorter wait times.

This is Crown’s project. CDOT is just the permitting agency for this. When Crown didn’t meet the rules in that permit, CDOT stepped in. But complaints about the project need to go to Matt Doran at Crown Construction. You can file a complaint on their page and/or set up your own “case.”

First, Adam Turner wrote: I just had a nice conversation with the Region 4 Lead Customer Service Representative. She was very helpful. She informed me that the conditions that have been described to her were well outside of the scope of the submitted traffic control plan for the contractor and that CDOT is taking our complaints very seriously. I was able to infer that this contractor has been shut down before for similar issues, though it was not explicitly stated.
As a quick reminder- I know this is stressful for everyone and it was quite obviously stressful for the CDOT representative I spoke with on the phone. Please do your best to remember that you are speaking with an actual person on the other end of the phone and be polite. I could tell that she has been hit with both barrels by some folks today. We will definitely illicit a more effective response by conveying our frustrations without resorting to anger.

Second, Sara and Becky wrote CDOT, and got the following response this past week: