FasTracks West Corridor Sheridan Bridge from K J Flynn on Vimeo.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

FasTracks construction of the new Sheridan Boulevard bridge is on schedule – good news for drivers through the two-lane work zone – and the structure may get its first girders next week.

The rise of three large support structures on the west side of Sheridan between 10th and 13th avenues shows drivers just how high this bridge will be above the current road grade. The south abutment, north abutment and center pier are being prepared for the girder setting.

By raising Sheridan high above Dry Gulch and the new light rail tracks, the bridge will smooth out a steep hill, improve sight lines and make traffic safer. It is being built in stages, with the southbound section first on the west side. When it is done, sometime this fall, two-lane traffic will be moved onto it so crews from Lawrence Construction of Littleton, the subcontractor on the structure, can start building the northbound bridge adjoining it.

You can view a slideshow of the work. The photos were taken on Thursday.

To expand to full screen and read the captions, first click on the “play” button and then click on the box that will appear at the lower right corner — with the four little arrows pointing outward. When the full screen appears, click on “Show Info” at the menu bar on the top right.

In the end, they will be joined, and the work will concentrate on building a new light rail station below it, along the bank of Dry Gulch. RTD, which is building FasTracks, will issue a separate contract for construction of a parking garage at 10th and Sheridan to serve the station.

The Sheridan bridge is part of RTD’s West Corridor light rail, the first of the new rail corridors in FasTracks to go to full construction. The general contractor is Denver Transit Construction Group, a partnership of a joint venture of Herzog Corp. of St. Joseph, Mo., and Stacy & Witbeck Inc. of Alameda, Calif.

RTD rendering shows an early conceptualization of the Sheridan bridge with the light rail station beneath it.

Sheridan was reduced from four lanes to two to speed up the construction period and reduce costs, especially for traffic control, in a deal that preserved the bridge as part of the plan.

Residents in the area, on both the Lakewood and Denver side of this boundary street, along with the cities fought to keep this bridge in the design after RTD proposed cutting it as part of cost savings on the West Corridor a few years back.

RTD considered reversing the original design to have Sheridan remain at grade while bridging the train tracks over the street instead. The switch was estimated to save $7 million. But by collaborating with the neighborhoods, the cities and especially the Colorado Department on Transportation, which owns Sheridan as CO 95, RTD was able to achieve the same savings by making adjustments to the plan.

Rendering of the Sheridan light rail station with Sheridan Boulevard raised on a new bridge over Dry Gulch. Courtesy RTD.

The restricted lanes went into effect in November, and Sheridan is expected to remain in two-lane configuration until mid-2011.

CDOT traffic counts show an estimated 33,100 vehicles a day use this segment of Sheridan Boulevard. That’s about the same number that travel Colfax Avenue between Sheridan and Federal boulevards.

Kathy Berumen, spokeswoman for Denver Transit Construction Group, said that so far, no complaints have been lodged about the traffic, which while backing up somewhat at the lane-drop points, appears to be moving smoothly through the zone.

The light rail tracks will follow the original route of the Denver Lakewood & Golden Railway, built in 1890 by William A.H. Loveland. This corridor carried Denver Tramway’s Golden Interurban trolley until the metro area’s trolley system was shut down in June 1950, and it served freight trains into the Denver Federal Center until 1988.

View a presentation on the history of the West Corridor — where else can you put together Jack Dempsey, Golda Meir, a few thousand tuberculosis victims, Jack Kerouac and the Sand Creek Massacre in one place?