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Mountain Roads Reopening For Long Weekend

Kent Kanouse
/
Flickr - Creative Commons

For those of you wishing to venture into the mountains this 2014 Memorial Day weekend you’re in luck. Many mountain roads closed for the winter are now reopening. Some roads remain closed for the foreseeable future and others are temporarily open during daytime hours. Here's a complete list on the current status of the main mountain roads for Colorado’s Northern and Central Mountains.

Full Reopening

  • Highway 82 at Independence Pass near Leadville opened Thursday, May 22.  
  • Guanella Pass between Grant and Georgetown off of Interstate Highway 70 opened Friday, May 23rd.

Partial Reopening 

  • Highway 5 at Mt. Evans partially opened to Summit Lake on Friday, May 23. The remaining 14 miles from Summit Lake to the peak remains closed due to heavy snow, but the Colorado Department of Transportation says that section of road could open as early as next week or as late as mid-June depending on weather conditions.  
  • Trail Ridge Road from Estes Park to Grand Lake reopened Friday, May 23 with an evening closure at 8p.m. due to heavy snowmelt. Rangers and road crews will survey the road each morning to determine when and if it will reopen on a daily basis and are asking the public to plan on closures every night at 8p.m. at least through Monday, May 26. On Tuesday, May 27, Rocky Mountain National Park officials will determine whether to open the road for evening traffic.

Closed

  • Kebler Pass west of Crested Butte and Cottonwood Pass west of Buena Vista will remain closed through the middle of June as a result of heavy snowpack and road damage.

Colorado Department of Transportation officials are reminding cyclists and drivers to check the weather and road conditions before planning a trip into the mountains and that all of the openings remain tentative contingent on weather conditions.  

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