CDOT to start US 287 improvements near Livermore June 10

Drivers headed north of Fort Collins for Red Feather Lakes, Wyoming, or backroad camping will start seeing a new summer bottleneck on US 287 as CDOT prepares to break ground June 10 near Livermore.

The Colorado Department of Transportation said the US 287 intersection improvements project will focus on the area around Red Mountain Road and Bonner Springs Ranch Road, spanning Milepost 362 to 375. The $6.38 million job is slated to run through fall 2026, with Zak Dirt serving as contractor. CDOT said the work is meant to make the roadway safer and smoother through widening, new turn lanes, updated guardrail, drainage work and fresh striping.

For travelers who use US 287 as the main north-south connector out of the Fort Collins area, the timing matters as much as the location. CDOT expects weekday daytime work, along with shoulder closures and temporary lane closures at first, then more sustained single-lane restrictions later in the project. Both northbound and southbound lanes will stay open while crews work behind concrete barriers, but CDOT still expects reduced speeds and active traffic impacts through the construction zone.

That makes this stretch more than a routine roadside upgrade. The corridor carries the kind of trips that fill Colorado’s summer calendar: mountain town errands, access to trail systems, and longer runs toward northern Colorado recreation spots and the Wyoming line. CDOT’s project page places the work north of Fort Collins on US 287 at Red Mountain Road and Bonner Springs Ranch Road, and a Coloradoan report described the construction area as roughly 11 miles from Bonner Springs Ranch Road to Red Mountain Road.

The broader US 287 safety improvements effort is even larger than this first phase. CDOT’s scope-of-work document says the overall project extends from Ted’s Place to the Wyoming border and was developed after a 2021 safety study by Stolfus & Associates. Construction Package 1 is set for June 2026 through November 2026 and includes the Livermore-area intersection work, plus a snow-closure gate and sign replacement. Construction Package 2 is scheduled for June 2027 through November 2028 and adds northbound and southbound shoulder widening, wildlife crossing and fencing, resurfacing, structures preventative maintenance and sign replacement.

CDOT says the goal is to reduce severe injuries and fatal accidents while also prolonging the roadway’s functional life. For anyone planning a summer route on US 287, the lesson is simple: the road may stay open, but the trip will not feel unchanged once this work zone takes shape between Livermore and the open stretches beyond.