CDOT Press Release

Today, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) realigned traffic onto the newly constructed portion of the roundabouts located on the north side of 96th Avenue at I-76. In this new alignment, only one lane will be open in each direction and the lanes will be reduced to 11 feet. The new alignment will allow crews to begin construction on the south portion of the new roundabouts.

“The project is moving along well as we have about half of the project complete,” said CDOT Project Engineer Don Lopez. “Over the next couple of months, 96th Avenue will remain in this configuration as we work to complete the roundabouts and get them open to traffic early next year.”

With the second phase of construction, several ramps and frontage roads have reopened while others have closed. The following ramps and roads are now open following the first phase of construction:

The ramp from 96th Avenue to eastbound I-76
The ramp from westbound I-76 to 96th Avenue
All the frontage roads except the southwest frontage road (since traffic is shifted to the south, detour routes are in place to access the frontage roads)

The new alignment also requires some new ramp and frontage road closures. The following will be closed for the next two to three months and detours are in place:

The ramp from eastbound I-76 to 96th Avenue
The ramp from 96th Avenue to westbound I-76
The southwest frontage road

In addition, motorists can expect single-lane alternating traffic on 96th Avenue during daytime hours with occasional night work. Throughout the project, the speed limit approaching and within the construction area has been reduced 20 MPH. CDOT would like to remind motorists to obey all construction signs and flaggers and to “Slow for the Cone Zone.”

This work is part of a safety improvement project at the interchange of I-76 and 96th Avenue which will construct two traffic roundabouts at the on and off-ramps to improve mobility and safety. The two roundabouts that will be constructed will improve safety, provide for greater capacity and will be designed to accommodate high volumes of large vehicles.

Castle Rock Construction Co. is the contractor for this $4 million project which is scheduled to be complete by the end January 2010. The Recovery Act is funding $2.2 million of the total project cost.

In all, Colorado will receive more than $400 million for transportation projects and $103 million for transit projects. For more information about how Colorado is putting the Recovery Act to work, visit www.colorado.gov/recovery. For a list of CDOT’s Recovery Act projects, visit www.dot.state.co.us/arra.