This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If you hope to visit Arches National Park for a night hike or drive, don't plan on doing so between March and November this year except on Friday and Saturday nights.
Officials announced this week that the road construction will close the park from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. when the project begins in March. The road will be closed to all use including by vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles.
No specific date has been selected but it is expected to be sometime in March or April. Once it becomes, all visitors must be out of the park by 7 p.m.
The idea is that by doing the work at night, travel impacts during the day on the increasingly popular park near Moab will be reduced.
The current plan is for crews to work on the road Sunday through Thursday night, with no road closures on Friday and Saturday nights.
The preliminary construction schedule will be posted by mid-March on the park website. Go to http://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/construction.htm.
Limited daytime closures may also be possible. Construction crews will be using pilot cars and flaggers to control traffic during the day. Traffic delays will be kept to 30 minutes or less in each work zone.
The Devils Garden Campground will be closed March 1 through November 30. Also, visitors may find that some areas such as Devils Garden, Fiery Furnace and the Windows may be closed up to four weeks. Trails may also be closed in those areas.
The planned work affects approximately 26 miles of roads and pullouts in Arches along the entrance road from U.S. 191 to the visitor center, main park road, the campground road, and other spur roads and loops. Some trails may be closed to use when this occurs.
Bottom line for visitors is that this might not be a great year to see Arches.
The National Park Service said visitors might want to check with the Moab Travel Council website at http://www.discovermoab.com/profile.htm for suggestions on other public lands places to visit during construction.
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