Construction has completed in Coal Creek Canyon on a flood recovery and prevention project, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) announced Wednesday.

The project, led by CDOT, intended to fix damage from a 2013 flood and accommodate for future flood events through the canyon along State Highway 72 with resilient infrastructure.

“CDOT has built back bigger and better to meet current design standards,” said CDOT Regional Transportation Director Paul Jesaitis.

The $9.5-million project was contracted by Denver’s M.A. Mortenson Company.

Old culverts were replaced by larger ones capable of accommodating for higher flows and resistant to debris clogging, Jesaitis said. The project also added a guard rail, stabilized slopes, restored channels and built a shoulder along westbound Highway 72.

In 2013, heavy rainfall caused extensive damage to Highway 72 causing it to be closed for two months.

Though emergency work made the roadway passable at the time, permanent improvements were needed to the drainage and roadway to prevent future damage, CDOT said.

All vehicle and bike restrictions on the highway have been lifted through the 12-mile work zone between Plainview Road and Pinecliffe Road. Motorists and bicyclists are encouraged to use caution and share the road as traffic increases.

This project is one of the last CDOT flood recovery projects funded by the Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief Program.