COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Few road projects are as large, expensive, and impactful as the major infrastructure project in the heart of the city that has entered its third year.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) expects to finish a $62 million improvement project by the end of next summer.
Crews are making various upgrades on a 1.5-mile stretch of I-25 between Fillmore Street and Garden of the Gods Road.
CDOT has replaced the twin bridges over Ellston Street, which required several traffic shifts; traffic is using the southbound bridge while the northbound bridge is expected to open to traffic next month.
Workers are currently focused on the east side of the freeway, along the northbound lanes, shifting traffic to the west, and creating open space that will become new lanes as well as acceleration/deceleration lanes.
The latter will be designed to make it easier for drivers to merge into and out of traffic, eliminating a traffic bottleneck that can cause backups for miles to the south.
That part of the project will eventually move to the west side of the freeway, along the southbound lanes.
Crews have also made significant drainage improvements.
Because traffic lanes have been narrow, winding, and bumpy during construction, CDOT is repaving I-25 through the work zone to smooth the pavement before winter.
The project’s next major phase happens in the spring with a major renovation of the bridge over Garden of the Gods Road.
“It’s going to be in the April/May time frame,” said Patti Henschen, a CDOT engineer overseeing the project. “We’ll give you more details when we get closer to that date, but it’s going to be some overnight closures over several weekends. New rehab work on it.”
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