Next Week's Schedule for US 36 Emergency Flood Reconstruction Between Lyons and Estes Park

BOULDER, LARIMER COUNTIES — The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration – Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFLHD) are strongly urging motorists to travel on State Highway (SH) 7 between Lyons and Estes Park, as delays are lengthening significantly due to the heavy volume of traffic on the corridor. As part of the US 36 Emergency Flood Reconstruction project, blasting will continue next week, but at this time no two hour, three hour, or overnight closures are scheduled.  

This coming week, crews will also be performing excavation and embankment work, which will cause major delays for motorists traveling through the area. The following delays should be expected this week on US 36 between Lyons and Estes Park:

• Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.: Stops of 10 minutes
• Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Stops of one hour
• Monday through Friday, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night: Stops of 30 minutes
• Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Stops of 30 minutes
• Sunday: No work scheduled at this time.

During blasting activities, crews will be loosening sections of the mountainside and then removing the loosened materials from the roadway. On average, the highway will be moved inland away from the river 20 feet, with the range varying between five feet to 50 feet. Altogether, an expected 210,000 cubic yards of material is expected to be removed (the equivalent of 210,000 dishwashers). The materials will be recycled and used to not only stabilize the embankment below the highway, but will also be used to stabilize the river channel. Leftover materials will be donated to other area reconstruction projects underway by towns and counties still recovering from the flood, including the County Road 80 (Longmont Dam Road) project underway by Boulder County and the city of Longmont. Unfortunately, no materials will be available for donation to private citizens.

Throughout the duration of construction, cyclists are not permitted on US 36 within the work zones, and several trail access points will be closed for safety reasons. Other flood-impacted highways will remain open for cyclists, who ride at their own risk and are urged to ride using extra caution.

American Civil Constructors, Inc. is the contractor for this project.

For additional questions or comments about the US 36 repairs project, please contact [email protected] or call the project hotline at 970-591-0001. Further information about the project is also available on the project website at www.coloradodot.info/projects/floodrelatedprojects/us-36-lyons-to-estes. Motorists are encouraged to sign up for email updates about the project by clicking on the green cell phone icon on the right hand side of the project website.

To receive real-time updates about road conditions in your area, visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the green cell phone icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Information about weekly lane closures will be available at www.coloradodot.info/travel/scheduled-lane-closures.html. Live road conditions are available at www.cotrip.org or by calling 511 from anywhere in the state. Updates are also available via Twitter @coloradodot and be sure to “Like” our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/coloradodot.