Summer travel to Telluride festivals and trailheads will be delayed by up to 30 minutes as of June 5.

Construction crews will be working on a 9-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 145 from Roaring Fork Road to the north end of Rico until the end of October.

"Motorists traveling this Scenic and Historic Byway will certainly notice the improvements," said Project Engineer Kevin Black in a written statement.

The federally funded $4.4 million project on the San Juan Skyway has been awarded to Nielsons Inc. of Cortez. Four other companies bid on the project.

It will include asphalt overlay, guardrail replacement, new signage, and banking of curves for safer cornering.

Although crews will also be replacing the Stoner Creek bridge, a detour will be built for motorists.

The Colorado Department of Transportation will also be doing some spot patching from Telluride through Placerville from June 7 until June 10. Travelers can expect some intermittent delays through the area.

In addition, CDOT will start work on a 13.8 mile section of U.S. Highway 145 north of Rico at the beginning in late June or after the fourth of July holiday. The asphalt overlay will extend from the San Miguel/Dolores county line to the Telluride turnoff, and may cause additional delays of up to 20 minutes.

The contract for this $2.48 million project was won by LaFarge corporation and Western Mobil Northern.

These projects will complete five seasons of construction from Dolores to Telluride that sees heavy tourist traffic.

According to Nancy Shanks, a spokeswoman for CDOT, there is an annual average of 3,000 vehicles per day on the 60-mile stretch.