Weather delay extends overnight closures to include Saturday, May 10 for US 36 Emergency Flood Reconstruction between Lyons and Estes Park

May 8, 2014 - Northeastern Colorado/CDOT Region 4 - Overnight & Daytime Highway Closures Scheduled

BOULDER/LARIMER COUNTIES — The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration – Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFLHD) are extending night work on the U.S. 36 Emergency Flood Reconstruction project between Lyons and Estes Park.  Overnight work scheduled for Wednesday, May 7, was postponed due to inclement weather, and is now scheduled to occur Saturday, May 10, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday, May 11.

Motorists can expect full highway closures on the following days and hours for blasting and site excavation:

  • Thursday, May 8 – 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. from Mile Marker 16.2 to Mile Marker 18
  • Friday, May 9 – 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. from Mile Marker 16.2 to Mile Marker 18

o   8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Mile Marker 16.8 east of Pinewood Springs near Lyons

  • Saturday, May 10 – 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. from Mile Marker 16.2 to Mile Marker 18

During the overnight closures, traffic will be allowed through the work zone from midnight until 1 a.m.

All other traffic stops are scheduled as follows for embankment work and culvert installation:

  • Saturday, May 10 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.: stops of 30 minutes
    • Sunday, May 11: Stops of 30 minutes
    • Monday, May 12 through Friday, May 16 from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.: stops of 15 minutes
      • Monday, May 12 through Friday, May 16 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: stops of one hour.
      • Monday, May 12 through Friday, May 16 from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night:Stops of 30 minutes
      • Saturday, May 17: stops of 30 minutes

A temporary traffic signal is on the east end of the work zone; timing is continually adjusted to accommodate traffic flows through the area. This signal is in place 24/7 and motorists should expect the signal to stop traffic any day of the week, including Sundays.

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 and 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 to stabilize the river channel. Leftover materials will be donated to other area reconstruction projects 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 are available for donation to private citizens.

Throughout the duration of construction, cyclists are not permitted on U.S. 36 within the work zones, and several trail access points will be closed for safety.  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. of Littleton, CO is the project contractor.

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 atwww.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 updates about road conditions in your area, visitwww.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 atwww.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 atwww.facebook.com/coloradodot.