LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. -- Visitors who want to frequent Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park this summer will have a straight shot from Loveland to Estes Park along Highway 34.
The roadway is reopening after a six-month closure for repairs from damage caused by the 2013 flood.
“Both flood events, ‘76 and ‘13, the roadway was completely washed out,” said James Usher, the project manager for the Highway 34 construction.
At some points of the canyon, 200,000 cubic feet of rock was blown away and re-purposed elsewhere to build and support the road.
The goal of the construction is to get at least one lane of traffic onto bedrock so the road is protected from future floods. There will be at least one passable lane at all times, regardless of the size of the disaster.
The road will open late Thursday afternoon for the summer.
The highway will then close again in October for another six-month closure before reopening for good.