US 24 resurfacing north of Buena Vista to bring summer delays

The drive north out of Buena Vista is about to slow down just when the summer crowd starts pushing into the upper Arkansas Valley. Colorado Department of Transportation is starting a resurfacing job on US Highway 24 on May 18, and the work is set to run through September, right across a corridor that carries campers, rafters and hikers toward some of central Colorado’s busiest access points.

The project covers mile points 192 to 202, a stretch of roughly nine miles from near Mountain View Drive to Granite, south of the US 24/CO 82 intersection. CDOT says the $6.5 million job is being handled by United Companies and will include resurfacing, rumble strip installation, guardrail improvements, road sign replacement and striping. The agency is not closing the highway, but it is reducing traffic to single-lane alternating flow with pilot vehicles and flagging personnel during daytime work hours, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

That setup matters for anyone trying to time a river shuttle, a campground check-in or an early trailhead start. CDOT says motorists should expect up to 15-minute delays, along with 12-foot width restrictions, a 40 mph work-zone speed limit and doubled traffic fines. The practical move is to avoid the weekday daytime window if you can, or at least build a wider buffer into the leg between Buena Vista and mountain destinations farther north and south. A Saturday or Sunday crossing should be the cleaner bet, and if you are rolling through on a weekday, very early morning or after 7 p.m. will be the least painful option.

Transportation Director Julie Constan called US 24 between Buena Vista and Granite a vital corridor through the upper Arkansas River Valley, and that is the right way to read this project. It is not just pavement work. It is maintenance on the road that links local communities to the Front Range and feeds the recreation traffic that fills campgrounds, trailheads and rafting put-ins all summer.

CDOT says the new 31-inch-high guardrail is designed to meet updated safety standards and help keep vehicles that drift off course on the roadway more effectively. The Buena Vista stretch also has a recent precedent: in August 2017, CDOT, the Town of Buena Vista and A&S Construction finished an $11 million enhancement project that added bike lanes, crosswalks, parking spots, a new traffic signal at Main Street and US 24, better drainage and storm sewers, and upgraded sidewalks and lighting. Farther north, another US 24 resurfacing project is already planned between Leadville and Minturn, with up to 15-minute delays from May through November 2026. For summer travelers, that means the mountain drive through this corridor will reward planning, not improvisation.