Crews Working on US 34 Between Loveland and Estes Park This Week and Next to Prepare for Spring Thaw

February 18, 2014 - TRAFFIC ADVISORY - Northeastern Colorado/CDOT Region 4 - Rockfall mitigation work may create stops of up to 30 minutes.

LARIMER COUNTY — The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and contractor Kiewit Infrastructure will be scheduling lane closures on US 34 between Loveland and Estes Park in the coming weeks in order to allow for work that will help crews prepare for the spring thaw. Due to the temporary state of the highway following the September 2013 flood, crews need to perform hillside stabilization and rockfall mitigation work to ensure the highway remains safe throughout the spring as temperatures fluctuate with the weather. Rockfall mitigation work will help prevent loose materials from coming down on the highway on their own.

Upcoming impacts to motorists will mostly be single-lane closures for short durations to allow crews to perform barrier work, inlet work, or debris removal along the highway. Additionally, crews will be performing rock scaling operations which will require traffic stops for both directions of US 34 Mondays through Fridays between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. During rockfall mitigation stops, motorists will be halted for as much as 30 minutes. All work and lane closures are weather dependent, but are expected to begin Friday, February 21 and last throughout the week of Monday, February 24, or longer. Motorists are strongly encouraged to build an extra 30 minutes of travel time into their schedules!

Work will take place in the following highway segments:

  • Twenty-two rock-scaling sites are located between Mall Road in Estes Park, and Drake.
  • Four sites are between Idlewild Dam and Cedar Cove.
  • One site is in the narrows of the Big Thompson Canyon closer to Loveland.

All work that takes place on US 34 will be coordinated with the US 36 emergency reconstruction project. No blasting is planned for US 34, however occasional blasting is ongoing on US 36 between Estes Park and Lyons. Thank you for driving Slow for the Cone Zone!

For questions or further information about the work taking place on US 34, motorists are encouraged to email the public information team at [email protected] or call the project hotline at 1-800-536-4403.

To receive real-time updates about road conditions in your area, including the US 34 flood-impacted corridor, 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.