US 34 will Receive Federal Funding to Complete Repairs from 2013 Floods

U.S. 34 road washout from September, 2013: Image credit: Flickr

U.S. Senator Cory Gardner’s office announced today that U.S. Highway 34 will receive the funding necessary to fully repair damage from 2013 flooding. $1 billion in disaster relief money will be included in a federal funding bill resolution to be voted on later this week. Sections of the highway through Big Thompson Canyon were washed away in the floods that hit Northern Colorado in September, 2013. U.S. 34 is the Northern route into Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. A multi-phase rebuild has been underway since October 17, 2016 and is scheduled to have the highway closed through Memorial Day, 2017. Until the recent announcement, the project was facing a possible $150 million shortfall. Without the resolution, CDOT was predicting it would take up to 20 years to receive the funding necessary to repair all infrastructure damaged in the 2013 floods.

For more information, read the article from The Coloradoan.