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3-Mile Section Of Highway 34 Closed Until May 2017

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- A three-mile section of Highway 34 will be closed until May 2017 while crews give it a much needed upgrade.

People who live and work in the area will have to find a new way to get from Loveland to Estes Park starting Monday.

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Copter4 flew over Highway 34 in the Big Thompson Canyon after it was damaged in the Sept. 2013 floods. (credit: CBS)

US 34 will remain closed between mile markers 77 and 80 until May 2017. Colorado Department of Transportation crews will remove 200,000 cubic yards of rock from the canyon.

big-thompson-project-map
(credit: CBS)

The area sustained significant damage in both the 1976 and 2013 floods.

CDOT has made temporary repairs, but says new construction will provide a permanent fix.

Copter4 Sept. 17, 2013, Images of damage in Larimer County
Big Thompson Canyon after the flooding in September, 2103 (credit: CBS)

Permits have been issued to people living in the Big Thompson Canyon allowing them to follow pilot cars through the three-mile work zone between the hours of 6 and 8:30 a.m. and 4 and 7 p.m.

big-thompson-project
(credit: CBS)

Until then, drivers can use Colorado Highway 66 and US Highway 36 for travel from Loveland to Estes Park.

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