Paving on Highway 82, Main Street to cause delays next week

Colorado Department of Transportation crews will repave sections of Highway 82 near the Entrance to Aspen and along Main Street next week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, according to a news release.

The milling and paving is expected to cause hour-long delays during the work, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the release Wednesday from Tracy Trulove, CDOT spokesperson.

The project was initially scheduled for late June but was delayed after the Aspen Institute complained that the work would inconvenience Aspen Ideas Festival participants, Trulove said previously.

On Tuesday, crews will mill the eastbound or upvalley lanes only from the S-curves to the Hickory House and from First Street to Aspen Street. Main Street traffic will be squeezed into one lane going each direction, the release states. The same areas will be paved Wednesday.

Next Thursday, CDOT will repave the road between Cemetery Lane and the Castle Creek Bridge and from the Castle Creek Bridge to the island at the beginning of the western-most S-curve. That work, which also will take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., will force downvalley traffic to be detoured down Seventh Street to Smuggler Street.

Roaring Fork Transportation Authority buses will use the Castle Creek Bridge on Thursday at the direction of flaggers. Some bus stops may not be in use that day.