Highway 36 Repairs: New CDOT Website and Hotline
CDOT has launched a new website to help answer our ongoing questions about access to the Pinewood Springs area. Additionally, you may now call a CDOT hotline that will be staffed with people who can answer questions and log concerns.
CDOT HOTLINE: 970-591-0001
CDOT EMAIL: US36FloodRepairs@PublicInfoTeam.com
Repairs Underway
Construction is underway between mile post (MP) 4 near Estes Park and MP 19 near Lyons. Altogether, crews will be working at 18 different sites throughout the length of the construction zone, but not in sequential order of location. Crews work from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week, and are finishing the removal of debris from the construction zone, including trees, rocks, personal vehicles, and other materials. In additional to debris removal, crews are and will be rebuilding the roadway in several areas, stabilizing the surrounding hillside, installing new culverts, and paving a new temporary road.
Access for Residents
Since crews are working to repair US 36 during daylight hours, it is essential for safety reasons and construction progress that travel through the work zone is restricted during work hours. Residents that live within the work zone can only enter and exit the work zone prior to work commencing each morning, typically 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and following work completion each evening, typically 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. US 36 is not open to through or commuter traffic of any kind and residents much show proof of residency.
For the safety of both crews and members of the public, only authorized personnel are allowed through the work zone. As the roadway is still rough and active construction is taking place, only high clearance 4×4 vehicles are allowed through the construction zone and motorists drive through the zone at their own risk.
It is 1:04 pm and my husband was just told that the road from Lyons to Pinewood Springs is closed today as it has been degraded to the point where it is not safe to drive on?
Does any have an update on this?
Thank you
I’ll be updating more information about access policies tomorrow but I do not believe that is correct.
Hi Robin – was he trying to access the road during the day or did he hear it through the grapevine? Keep in mind that until CDOT and the Guard come up with and approve a pilot car schedule for residents to use during the day there is NO access from Lyons to Pinewood while construction is underway during daylight hours.
The road conditions do change from day to day. We’ve been up a few times, always after dark, and every time things are different. One day the road will be nice and well graded, a few days later it will be a mess with large rocks, holes, and drop offs. Until they are done it is not something we can count on using, even at night I suspect. We view our trips up as a special event and like everyone else look forward to the day when it is all back in place and life can resume a more normal course.
Other things to keep in mind as we approach the weekend – police presence is HUGE. Your hang tag may not be enough to get up to Pinewood as there is a new road block at Apple Valley and 36. We went up last night and even though we had our hang tag the sheriff also wanted to see an ID. So there is the first road block into Lyons where the tag is enough, and the second to go to Pinewood that required additional ID. We stayed overnight and came out this morning – we saw SEVEN police vehicles between Pinewood and Lyons. This includes a State Trooper who was up in Pinewood, another one at Apple Valley, and then several sheriffs from Larimer and Boulder around Lyons. We even saw a Boulder County sheriff with a radar trap in Lyons!!! It was funny and made things feel a little more normal. :)
It’s supposed to snow tonight (maybe 6 inches) so if anyone is planning on going up or trying to get out in the morning keep in mind that there are no plows working 36 right now and there will be no plows through the construction zone at all. I would NOT want to do 36 or the construction area with snow or ice on the ground and I have a very capable 4×4. Just something to keep in mind. Luckily the weekend looks fabulous!
The large police presence on the weekend was due a man with a gun that disappeared from Collard Lane.
Yes, that was last weekend. The police presence I am talking about was there this morning.
Please tell us again where to obtain the required passes to use US 36. We are presently living in Longmont and want to travel back up to PWS through Lyons. Can we get the required passes in Lyons ? If not where?
Thanks so much for your help!!!
I don’t believe you can get the original Boulder Sheriff pass anymore. You can use your Driver’s License if it has your address on it – you’ll be fine. You can get a Larimer pass up at the Sheriff’s office in Fort Collins or at the Estes Park Police.
The CDOT line listed above did not know of any differences between previous nights and tonight. Having said that, in this case absence of information does not automatically equal absence of problem, so it will be interesting to see if it’s passable tonight.
This is not a “normal” situation Warren. If you need to pick up your mail, or go to the doctor, you leave in the morning around 6 and plan on staying down and do errands all day and return after 6 pm like the rest of us that chose to stay up here. Until the situation improves, quit whining.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. No really… My planned response was much less polite.
One additional thing: Leave at 6 and drive back the long way. Not that hard…
Big Meadows Owneru. K