Road projects challenge Estes Park motorists

ESTES PARK – Road-improvement projects and continued work on the one-way downtown loop project will create some obstacles for drivers in Estes Park this month and into the spring and summer.

The Colorado Department of Transportation will begin improvements Monday along U.S. Highways 34 and 36 in the town, a project that will resurface four miles of roadway and, when completed this fall, will provide other safety improvements for the busy tourist town. Meanwhile, traffic will be redirected on a portion of East Riverside Drive to prepare for a paving project as part of work on the loop.

“Construction is progressing well, and the weather is cooperating wonderfully,” Gregory Muhonen, the town’s public works director, told BizWest on Wednesday. “This mild winter has helped the contractor do concrete pours. Mother Nature has been helpful.”

During the first phase of CDOT’s improvement plan, a retaining wall will be constructed southwest of downtown to protect U.S. 36 (Moraine Avenue) from erosion from the Big Thompson River. CDOT plans a 24/7 single alternating traffic pattern just east of Riverrock Circle with temporary traffic signals to guide motorists through the construction zone. The single-lane closure is expected to be in place until early May. Two-way traffic will be restored during the next phase of that project.

In addition to ensuring that the roadway maintains structural integrity during periods of high-water flows, CDOT said it believes investing in a retaining wall now will mitigate the need for frequent, costly road repairs in the future due to ongoing erosion issues.

The second phase of the CDOT project will begin in the middle of this coming spring with the paving of U.S. 34 (Big Thompson Avenue) east of downtown from its intersection with U.S. 36 and North St. Vrain Avenue to Mall Road. Additional work is to include Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades that include curb ramp installation at the intersection of U.S. 36 and Mary’s Lake Road and on East Elkhorn Avenue from Big Horn Drive to Virginia Drive. Curb ramps are a small but important part of making sidewalks, street crossings and the other pedestrian routes that make up the public right-of-way accessible to everyone.

During this phase, motorists can expect traffic shifts, single alternating lane closures, and sidewalk detours at various project stages. Work for this phase will include both daytime and nighttime work depending on the location in which crews are working. For daytime work, the hours will range from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and nighttime work will be 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.

CDOT says that in order to maintain safe infrastructure, asphalt roads need to have their top layers milled and resurfaced every 10 to 15 years to extend the life of the road and create a safer surface for motorists. As an additional safety improvement, the damaged and aging guardrail in some locations will be replaced.

Meanwhile, work continues on the project that started in January 2023 to build Estes Park’s 1.1-mile Downtown Loop, a one-way street reconfiguration through the center of the tourist town designed to ease congestion and speed summer access to and from Rocky Mountain National Park.

Starting two days ago, traffic has been switched from east lanes to west lanes on East Riverside Drive between the new bridge and Elkhorn Avenue. This is allowing crews to subgrade the other side of East Riverside in preparation for paving. The town has said some businesses and residents in the area may experience parking limitations, but alternate temporary parking will be available. Written notification is being given to those affected.

Additionally, there will be no right turn, southbound, from the new bridge onto East Riverside Drive.

Crews will also continue work on intersection and signal improvements at Elkhorn and Moraine avenues, the central intersection in downtown Estes Park, as well as at Elkhorn and East Riverside Drive and at U.S. 36 and Virginia Drive.

Other activities related to the loop will continue, including building curbs and gutters next to the post office, working on the retaining wall along the river across from the post office, building sidewalks along Crags Drive and modifying the Rockwell Street Bridge.

Drivers can access the post office by using the town’s Riverside Parking lot north of Rockwell Street. All businesses within that area remain open for business.

The stretch of Virginia Drive north of Elkhorn next to Bond Park will remain closed and is scheduled to open back up this month when crews finish the new traffic signal and curb and gutter work.

When the loop project is completed, likely by January 2025, westbound traffic on U.S. 36 toward the national park will follow its routing west on Elkhorn, then south and west on Moraine. Eastbound traffic out of the park, however, will exit Moraine through a new roundabout onto West Riverside Drive, then roughly northward on West Riverside, over the new bridge onto East Riverside, and reconnecting with Elkhorn across from Bond Park.

Muhonen said the contractors continuously update information online for the CDOT and loop projects.

Road projects challenge Estes Park motorists

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