Improvements to U.S. Highway 50 between Montrose and Gunnison originally slated for November completion will take until 2023, but the full daytime road closures drivers have seen during the project ended last week.

The Little Blue Creek Canyon project is intended to make the stretch of road near Blue Mesa Reservoir safer by rerouting it in some places and widening it in others. The exact target completion date is still to be determined, as federal highway staff and contractor American Civil Const...