The Road and Bridge Department of Archuleta County is charged with the responsibility to maintain and reconstruct roads and bridges under its jurisdiction along with snow removal.
In addition to the 327 miles of road under county jurisdiction, the Road and Bridge Department must maintain, repair and replace 20 bridges. Bridges are defined as any structure with a span greater than 20 feet. The county applies for State and Federal grants to help fund bridge replacements.
County Roads are classified as Primary and Secondary Roads. Primary roads are roads defined as principal arterial and collector roads, and Secondary roads are local access roads. Road and Bridge maintains 222 miles of Primary roads and 105 miles of secondary roads. This includes plowing snow, grading roads, maintaining barrow ditches, cattleguards, culverts and drainage along our roads, and patching asphalt. Roads are assigned maintenance priorities based on traffic volume, seasonal use, type of use and available funds as directed by the BoCC. Due to the predominately rural and mountainous nature of the County, some roads are maintained on a very limited basis, or in the summer only.
Road and Bridge also makes necessary improvements and undertakes special projects on an “as needed” basis, based on priority and available time, equipment and funds.