Bridge Inspections Wrap Up Along Tongue Creek After High Water
Austin, CO · November 5, 2026
Low clouds are hugging the adobe hills this morning, while county maintenance trucks make their early rounds checking the creek crossings.
The Lead
Following intense autumn storm runoff that pushed Tongue Creek to bank-full earlier this week, county emergency officials and road crews have completed structural safety checks across crossings between Trap Club Road and the Gunnison River confluence. Water had surged near the bridge decks on Tongue Creek Road and Fairview Road on Monday, prompting precautionary travel warnings for Austin and Orchard City neighbors along the lower drainage.
Inspections showed no structural scour or foundation undermining on the county-maintained spans, allowing both routes to remain open for routine traffic. With headwaters runoff tapering across the lower Grand Mesa slopes, creek levels have retreated back into their defined channels. Public works crews are keeping heavy equipment staged nearby through the weekend to clear any lingering drift logs and maintain gravel approaches.
Local Pulse
Cedaredge Trustees Convene for November Public Hearing City Hall Trustees gather at town hall tonight at six to review the upcoming municipal budget and hear neighborhood testimony.
Austin Recycling Facility Welcomes Valley Drop-Offs Community Residents can drop clean cardboard, metal, and glass free of charge during expanded morning hours off Highway 92.
Today's Outlook
- High 56°F · Low 41°F — Overcast
- Keep a warm fleece handy for brisk, gray air that will linger through dusk.
What's On Around Town
Today
Delta Storytime Delta Public Library (211 W 6th St), Delta, 10:30 AM · Free Early literacy stories, songs, and gentle movement for babies and preschoolers.
Fall into Winter Concert Grand Mesa Arts & Events Center (195 W Main St), Cedaredge, 7:00–9:00 PM · Paid Live regional acoustic music kicking off the gallery's seasonal stage lineup.
Tomorrow
- Tech Fridays Help Session Delta Public Library (211 W 6th St), Delta, 10:00 AM · Free
- Tween & Teen Hub Delta Public Library (211 W 6th St), Delta, 3:30 PM · Free
Saturday
- Coffee with Claudia Community Talk Delta Public Library (211 W 6th St), Delta, 10:00 AM · Free
- Crawford Veterans Day Dinner Crawford Community Church, Crawford, 5:30 PM · Free
Spotlight & Story
- The Crazy Raft Race
- Started in 1980 when friends dragged contraptions of shipping pallets, beer kegs, and duct tape down Main Street, this beloved Gunnison River ritual grew into a thirty-vessel, eight-mile canyon spectacle before federal river protections retired the homemade flotilla in 2000.
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