Roadwork on Colo. 7 south of Estes Park to start next week

ESTES PARK — This winter’s scheduled closure of U.S. Highway 34 through part of Big Thompson Canyon won’t be the only roadwork disruption to affect Estes Park this year. Work on Colorado Highway 7 will start next week, the Colorado Department of Transportation announced Monday.

CDOT and Littleton-based American Civil Contractors Mountain West will begin repairs July 5 on Colorado 7 between Estes Park and its junction with Colorado 72 just south of Allenspark. The first phase, from Colorado 72 to Lily Lake at milepost 6.3, will be done this year.

The work will be done in two phases, said Jared Fiel, CDOT Region 4 communications manager.  Phase 1 includes installation of more than 20 culverts to carry water under the road, reconstruction of the shoulders, rock scaling, slope stabilization and asphalt paving. The project is slated to last until October 2017, with work taking a hiatus from Nov. 15 to March 15.

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Colorado 7  in Boulder and Larimer counties, also known as part of the Peak-to-Peak Highway, became the designated detour route for access to Estes Park after the 2013 deluge and flooding that completely closed U.S. Highways 34 and 36.

“It wasn’t that Highway 7 escaped damage from the floods,” Fiel said. “Shoulders and pavement were washed out, slopes failed and ditches were filled with sediment and debris. The road, however, was still passable so it became a logical detour. Now with the excess wear and tear on the corridor, and because of the flood damage, it’s time Highway 7 gets its rehabilitation.”

CDOT and its contractor partner don’t anticipate any full closures of Colorado 7, but will have single-lane traffic at culvert crossings that will be managed with temporary signals. These signals will alternate traffic during non-construction hours with a maximum 5-minute hold.  During working hours, ACC will manage traffic using flaggers who will maintain holds shorter than 10 minutes throughout the project with the exception of days when rockfall mitigation occurs which may require holds up to 30 minutes, Fiel said.

ACC will assure that all emergency response teams and local businesses are alerted to the detour. The contractor will be working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with any traffic disruptions ending by noon on Friday.

ACC has worked on similar projects since 1975. Since the 2013 flood, it has been involved in temporary and permanent repairs on U.S. 34, Colorado 14 and Larimer County roads, 27, 43 and 47. The company is “very familiar with the flood’s impact on the community and the tourism in the Estes Park area,” Fiel said.

Interested persons can sign up for regular project updates by visiting CDOT’s website and clicking on the blue/green cell phone button on the right. They also can call the public information hotline at 303-738-5106 or email publicinfo@accbuilt.com.

CDOT previously announced that U.S. 34 will close to all but local traffic at a point between Estes Park and Loveland from late October until next June to complete repairs following the September 2016 flood. Travel will be restricted to canyon residents and only drivers displaying a permit will be allowed to follow pilot cars in either direction for a 3 1/2–mile stretch between Drake and Cedar Cove. Canyon residents will encounter some delays as each pilot car completes its passage through the work zone and is ready to make the return trip in the opposite direction. This phase of work, which will focus on the east end of the canyon between mile markers 77 and 80, will start in October and continue through early June.

Other than canyon residents, only emergency services and people doing business in the canyon such as waste haulers, propane companies and package delivery services will be allowed in.  CDOT will distribute detailed information about how to get permits and how this process will work.

All other motorists will have to use U.S. 36 and Colorado 66 to travel between Estes Park and Loveland.