Phase 2 of US 36 reconstruction project begins July 21 Closure to begin July 29; open for weekend of Aug. 2-3

The biggest part of this phase will require a closure of the road between milemarkers 18 and 19, which is near the bottom, close to Lyons. That closure will begin July 29 at 6 a.m. The road will re-open for weekend traffic Aug. 2-3 and then close again for Aug. 4-8. The road will open on Saturday, Aug. 9 at 6 a.m.

During the closures, Apple Valley Road will be used as the detour for local residents and businesses only. Residents that live along US 36 from milemarkers 6 to 20, including residents in Big Elk Meadows, Pinewood Springs, Longmont Dam Road and Apple Valley, will be given credentials, or access tags. Details of where and when residents can pick up credentials will be coming soon.

Boulder County Sheriff Department will be manning the detour to ensure only credentialed residents and deliveries are allowed, similar to the way the flood credentialing process was handled. Other traffic will need to go on SH 7 or US 34 during this closure.

The reason for the closure is to build up the road embankment height and raise the road anywhere from 2 to 10 feet, depending on the location. This will require a lot of machinery and unsafe elevations will exist that are not conducive to accommodating traffic.

Outside of this planned closure, the public impacts from Phase 2 will be significantly less than the long delays from the blasting and clearing of material in Phase 1.

Delays of up to 30 minutes can be expected during the daytime hours Monday through Friday. And no daytime weekend work will occur.  Digital message boards at the top and bottom of the project site will announce, daily, what the expected drive time will be for the day.

Phase 2 is mostly about paving the entire length of road, this includes adding two more lifts of pavement, guardrail, signing, striping, rock bolting, and performing some minor stream stabilization and rock scaling. These improvements will be done in the construction zones east and west of Pinewood Springs. There will be delays as we will have traffic reduced to one lane on those stretches where the work is being performed.

US 36 is the first permanent reconstruction project to be tackled after the devastating floods of September 2013. This approach has included shifting the roadway away from the river channel 5 to 50 feet (an average of 20 feet) by removing portion of existing mountainside (approximately 250,000 cubic yards).

Once complete, the improved stretches of roadway will be 12-foot lanes with 6-foot shoulders. Pre-flood, there were 12-foot lanes with minimal shoulders. Not only will the additional shoulders help widen the highway, but the shoulders will also help improve safety by providing space for emergency pull-offs and making it safer for bicyclists. Furthermore, by softening some of the mountain curves, sight distance will be improved along several of the more severe curves on US 36, including Dead Man’s Curve and the approach to Longmont Dam Road.

For full details about the project, go to the project website at www.coloradodot.info/projects/floodrelatedprojects/us-36-lyons-to-estes.

For additional questions or comments about the US 36 repairs project, please contact [email protected] or call the project hotline at 970-591-0001.

To receive 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.

Click here for the Apple Valley detour frequently asked questions.