Mount Evans Highway is scheduled to partially reopen Friday, freeing nature-lovers to travel up as far as scenic Summit Lake, transportation officials said Tuesday.
The last four miles of the 14.7-mile road are expected to remain closed through Memorial Day weekend. Colorado Department of Transportation expects that schedule to hold, weather permitting.
“It was a ‘bad-weather spring,’ as I like to call it,” said Bob Wilson, communications manager for CDOT. Wilson said overnight snow wiped away plow progress throughout late spring; it generally takes a month to clear the road.
The highway, which is the highest paved road in North America, did not open last year until Aug. 4 due to heavy May snow and an . The road traditionally opens on the Friday before Memorial Day and remains open until the Tuesday after Labor Day. Last year, it stayed open until Oct. 5.
“Weather could impact it again,” Wilson said. Friday’s opening will be only the second or third partial opening of the highway Wilson remembers in his 19 years as a CDOT employee.
Mount Evans Highway, also called State Highway 5, is one of two popular seasonal highways controlled by CDOT — the other, Independence Pass, opens on Thursday. Trail Ridge Road, Guanella Pass and Cottonwood Pass, which are managed by county departments, are also scheduled to open Friday. Kebler Pass will remain closed until further notice due to road damage from a recent landslide.
The Mount Goliath Natural Area and Nature Center and the Summit of Mount Evans Interpretive Site will both be accessible on Friday, as well as Summit Lake Park.
