Utah soldiers headed to Colo. to rebuild highway

Utah National Guard soldiers are coming to Colorado to help rebuild one of the highways leading to Rocky Mountain National Park.

About 120 soldiers are scheduled to leave Friday morning. They’re expected to start work Saturday rebuilding U.S. Highway 36 from Lyons to Estes Park, which was badly damaged in last month’s floods.

Colorado is paying the soldiers with state funds because of the federal shutdown. However, the state will eventually seek reimbursement for much of the $500,000 cost.

The soldiers are members of an engineer battalion which has built roads in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as after Hurricane Katrina.