Montrose County weighs costly repairs, closure for Kinnickinn Road after landslides

Montrose County officials on April 30 outlined three divergent paths to address an 800-foot section of Kinnickinn Road that has been closed since October 2023 after repeated landslides weakened the hillside and damaged the roadway.

Brandon Wallace, Road and Bridge director, told the county board the slide began showing signs in 2023 when a school bus driver reported a major crack. County staff observed sudden ground movement and stress cracks; portions of the roadway have been lost and the road remains closed. Wallace said investigators identified hydrology and unstable shale as principal causes, with spring runoff, irrigation water and natural springs contributing to erosion at the toe of the slope.

The county has spent about $1.84 million on the project so far — $168,000 in-house and roughly $1.67 million in external project costs — and that figure does not resolve the remaining options. Wallace presented three paths: a temporary repair he described as a 5–10 year fix with an estimated additional cost of roughly $5 million (about $6.8 million total when adding prior spending); a permanent fix with an estimated range of $15 million to $25 million that would require new geotechnical work, redesign and likely a longer closure; or vacating the road, which would reroute traffic and, county staff warned, increase emergency response times by an estimated 8–10 minutes for some areas.

Mike Heinz, who assumed project management in July 2025, said work by the contractor Earthworks used the full contracted amount while crews encountered more unsuitable material and water than anticipated, forcing a stop when the contract cap was reached. Heinz said daily monitoring and stormwater controls remain in place but that the irrigation season and groundwater make stabilization difficult while work continues.

Commissioners and staff emphasized uncertainty in the upper-end cost estimates. The board discussed that a permanent solution would require fresh geotechnical investigations, redesign and further cost review; Wallace said the county currently holds designs only for the temporary repair and that permanent plans do not yet exist.

The county framed the temporary option as using the existing HDR plans already purchased, and said the higher-cost permanent option could require debt financing if it approached the $25 million range — roughly equal to or exceeding the county’s annual Road and Bridge budget. Staff also said they consulted stakeholders including local fire departments, the sheriff’s office and the Division of Fire Prevention and Control to model emergency response times under each scenario.

Chair closing remarks noted past leadership turnover in Road and Bridge and acknowledged early mistakes in project choices and contractor selection while stressing the presenting need to balance public safety and fiscal capacity. The board did not vote at the session; the matter is scheduled for formal consideration at a May 6 meeting.