The Colorado Department of Transportation and Kiewit Infrastructure Co. are opening Highway 34 in the Big Thompson Canyon today.  The highway is scheduled to reopen for the summer on Thursday, May 25 at 4 p.m.

Since the 2013 flood, CDOT and Kiewit have been working diligently to make temporary repairs, as well as design and construct permanent repairs to U.S. 34 through the Big Thompson Canyon to make it safe for residents and visitors to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.

As the project reaches its halfway point, CDOT will limit construction this summer and keep Highway 34 open until early October.

What Still Needs to Be Done?

project officials are quick to point out that a significant amount of road and river work still needs to be done – including difficult reconstruction work in the space-constrained area known as the “Narrows” on the east end of the canyon. This work will be done during the next closure scheduled for October 2017 through May 2018. Most of the roadway reconstruction will be finished a year from now, but asphalt paving and milling operations will continue throughout the canyon in the summer of 2018 with minor and intermittent traffic impacts next summer. Project completion is scheduled for December 2018.

For now, though, the focus is on letting people know US 34 is again open for travel between Loveland and Estes Park.

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