West­bound traf­fic, on the north­ern deck of Inter­state 70 through Glen­wood Canyon, will reopen Fri­day after a long clo­sure because of the Griz­zly Peak fire.

Dri­vers can expect con­tin­ued lane clo­sures through the canyon but the head-to-head traf­fic detour is com­ing to an end, the Col­orado Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion said in a news release.

CDOT crews have been steadi­ly work­ing on repair­ing the road sur­face from fire dam­age, which includ­ed rock and debris slides.

The inter­state was shut down in both direc­tions between Glen­wood Springs and Gyp­sum on Aug. 10, the day the wild­fire erupt­ed in the canyon. On Aug. 24, a lim­it­ed reopen­ing hap­pened in what were the tra­di­tion­al east­bound lanes, with low­er high­way speeds and oncom­ing traf­fic to allow trav­el in both directions.

It was the longest-ever clo­sure for that stretch — two weeks — of the heav­i­ly traf­ficked east-west cor­ri­dor, forc­ing motorists to detour to the north via Inter­state 80 or the south on U.S. 285 and U.S. 50.

“Our local com­mu­ni­ties and statewide trav­el­ers know the vital role that I‑70 in Glen­wood Canyon plays in our state’s trans­porta­tion net­work,” said CDOT Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Shoshana Lew in the release. “For Col­orado, this project helps to improve the longevi­ty of this crit­i­cal infra­struc­ture and ensure the safe, mul­ti­modal move­ment of peo­ple and goods.”

The stretch of high­way was already under­go­ing major repairs and upkeep when the wild­fire struck. COVID-19 con­cerns also played a role in how high­way offi­cials were able to respond to the shutdown.

“Despite all the chal­lenges this project has faced, the engi­neer­ing and con­tract­ing team have been able to deliv­er impres­sive progress,” said CDOT Region 3 Trans­porta­tion Direc­tor Michael Gools­by. “This is a great exam­ple of part­ner­ship and lead­er­ship at its finest.”