I-76 to close near Sterling June 18 for utility work

Traffic on Interstate 76 near Sterling will be pushed onto US 138 for a short-term closure the morning of Thursday, June 18, adding an estimated 20 to 60 minutes for eastbound and westbound travelers crossing Logan County. The shutdown will affect the stretch between exits 125 and 149 and is tied to communications utility work, not the ongoing Colorado Department of Transportation project on US 6.

The closure was announced by Sterling police after a City of Sterling Public Works post, and it is expected to be a one-time event. Drivers headed into Sterling, through the city, or on to destinations farther east and west should expect the biggest delays where I-76 feeds onto US 138, especially near the Sterling exits and where local traffic joins highway traffic for the detour.

For commuters, the safest approach is to leave early and avoid assuming the usual interstate run will hold. Truckers and other commercial drivers should plan for slower movement on US 138, where the detoured interstate traffic will mix with local traffic and create the kind of bottleneck that can ripple through the morning. Anyone with a time-sensitive appointment, delivery or connection should build in at least an extra half hour, and possibly more if the detour is crowded.

The closure comes after several years of repeated work along the Logan County section of I-76. CDOT’s roadway-improvements project east of Sterling covered mile points 125 to 132 in 2023 and included grading, six inches of hot mix asphalt, concrete panel replacement, diamond grinding, minor bridge repairs and guardrail upgrades. A later corridor project from the Crook interchange to two miles west of the Iliff interchange, mile points 150 to 132, was described as a $20 million effort that included concrete panel replacement, diamond grinding, resurfacing, bridge rehabilitation, guardrail and signage upgrades, and crossover detours.

CDOT’s travel advisories for that corridor have also noted 12-foot width restrictions and reduced speeds of 45 mph in crossover zones, part of the broader effort to improve safety, smoothness and longevity on the highway. For travelers, the state continues to point motorists to COtrip.org to check road conditions and closures before leaving.