CDOT prepares to make improvements to Business U.S. 34 in west Greeley

The Colorado Department of Transportation is about to sink a lot of money to improve the commute for people driving in or out of Greeley.

Starting next summer, CDOT will widen the U.S. 34 Business route west in west Greeley to four lanes. The improvements will affect traffic from 71st Avenue to Colo. 257 near Promontory.

Myron Hora, spokesman for CDOT, said the project is in the last planning stages. Officials are buying the land needed to widen the road, and construction should begin in late summer 2008. Travelers should expect the congestion to ease when the project is completed in fall 2009.

The project was suggested to CDOT in 2001 by the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization -- a group that identifies transportation problems in northern Colorado. The project will cost about $25 million, Hora said.

"It's going to take two construction seasons to complete," Hora said. "It was one of the top-ranked projects in the region."

Fred Jones, Greeley traffic superintendent, said Greeley has also gotten the green light to upgrade its traffic signal control system. The $330,000 federal grant will go to upgrade existing hardware and software that control traffic lights in Greeley.

Jones added that the improvements to Business U.S. 34 will hopefully make east and west traffic flow more smoothly in Greeley.

The road "is our busiest east and west roadway. Over 38,000 people travel on it everyday," Jones said. "We're hoping it will ease congestion and make 34 a more attractive east/west connector."

Other local CDOT projects

CDOT also is working with Greeley on several other road construction projects including resurfacing on U.S. 85 from 22nd Street to the north end of La Salle. That work is scheduled to be completed at the end of September.

Beginning next summer, CDOT will also make improvements to U.S. 85 south of La Salle to Colo. 60. Some other improvements include signal replacement on U.S. 85 at 18th Street and reconfiguration of turn lanes at U.S. 34 and 35th Avenue as well as overhauling the intersection at 11th Avenue and U.S. 34 bypass.