Click here to see CDOT’s planned lane closures in northeast Colorado.

Click here to see CDOT’s planned lane closures in southeast Colorado.

Click here to see CDOT’s planned lane closures in western Colorado.

Bridge Demolition to Close I-25 Near 104TH Avenue Next Week

ADAMS COUNTY – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) recently completed the center portion of the new 104th Avenue bridge over I-25. With two thirds of the new bridge complete, crews will be realigning eastbound 104th Avenue onto the new bridge this week and demolishing the final third of the existing bridge.

“We have now completed two thirds of the new structure and will be removing all traffic from the old bridge this week,” said CDOT Program Engineer John Schwab. “With traffic realigned to the new structure, we can demolish and replace the southern portion of the bridge.”

As a result of the upcoming bridge demolition, there will be various lane closures on 104th Avenue as well as I-25 next week. The following closures will take place Sunday, April 18th through Thursday, April 22nd, weather permitting:
• Sunday, April 18th: All left turn movements from northbound and southbound I-25 to 104th Avenue and from eastbound and westbound 104th Avenue to I-25 will be prohibited from 12 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday for paving.
• Monday, April 19th: A single lane of southbound I-25 at 104th Avenue will be closed at 7 p.m. followed by a full closure from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. In addition, all lanes of northbound I-25 at 104th Avenue will be closed from 1 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Crews will be removing a fence on the 104th Avenue bridge over I-25. Detour: Motorists will be detoured via the on and off ramps at 104th Avenue. Uniformed traffic control will be used to direct motorists through the interchange.
• Tuesday, April 20th: The left lane and left turn lane to I-25 will be closed on eastbound and westbound 104th Avenue from 8:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. to allow crews to realign eastbound 104th Avenue onto the new bridge.
• Wednesday, April 21st and Thursday, April 22nd: One lane of northbound and southbound I-25 at 104th Avenue will be closed at 7 p.m. with all lanes closing at 9 p.m. for bridge demolition. All lanes will reopen by 5:30 a.m. the following day. Detour: Motorists will be detoured via the on and off ramps at 104th Avenue. Uniformed traffic control will be used to direct motorists through the interchange.

Major delays are throughout the week and alternate routes are strongly advised. CDOT would like to remind motorists to obey all traffic signs and flaggers and to “Slow for the Cone Zone.”

The existing 104th Avenue bridge over I-25 was originally constructed in 1962 and is one of Colorado’s structurally deficient bridges. When complete, the new bridge will accommodate an additional left turn lane from eastbound 104th Avenue to northbound I-25.

Hamon Contractors, Inc. is the contractor for this $6.5 million project scheduled to be complete by the end of January 2011. CDOT is funding the bridge replacement and the Northglenn Urban Renewal Authority (NURA) is funding the aesthetic improvements which will include upgraded bridge rail and upgraded bridge lighting similar to the existing lighting on the 112th Avenue overpass bridge. Aesthetic improvements also include cornerstone monuments at the four ends of the bridge and “Northglenn” monument signage mounted to an upgraded retaining wall.

C-470 Concrete Repairs Complete, Resurfacing Begins

DOUGLAS/JEFFERSON COUNTY— Crews have completed all of the concrete repairs on eastbound and westbound C-470 between I-25 and Santa Fe Drive and asphalt resurfacing is just beginning. Since temperatures are not yet warm enough for paving during the overnight hours, crews will continue to work on weekends.

“With the concrete work complete, we will micro-surface C-470, which seals the concrete and levels the pavement,” said CDOT Project Engineer Doug Liane. “Once that work is complete, we will resurface both directions of C-470 in asphalt for a smooth driving surface.”

This weekend, crews will work from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting. The following closures will be in place:
Closures on Saturday, April 17, 2010
• Westbound C-470 between University Boulevard and Santa Fe Drive: The left lane of westbound C-470 will be closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Major delays are expected and alternate routes are strongly advised.
• Eastbound C-470 between University Boulevard and Yosemite Street: One lane of eastbound C-470 will be closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Major delays are expected and alternate routes are strongly advised.
• Lucent Boulevard to Westbound C-470: The ramp from Lucent Boulevard to westbound C-470 will be completely closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Detour: Motorists can take County Line Road to Santa Fe Drive where access to westbound C-470 is available.
• Westbound C-470 to Lucent Boulevard: The ramp from westbound C-470 to Lucent Boulevard will be completely closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Detour: Motorists can take Santa Fe Drive to County Line Road where access to Lucent Boulevard is available.
• Quebec Street to Eastbound C-470: The ramp from Quebec Street to eastbound C-470 will be completely closed from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Detour: Motorists can take County Line Road to Yosemite Street or I-25.

Closures on Sunday, April 18, 2010
• Westbound C-470 between University Boulevard and Santa Fe Drive: The right lane of westbound C-470 will be closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Major delays are expected and alternate routes are strongly advised.
• Westbound C-470 to Santa Fe Drive: The ramp from westbound C-470 to Santa Fe Drive will be completely closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Detour: Motorists can take Platte Canyon Road to Mineral Avenue where access to Santa Fe Drive is available.
• Eastbound and Westbound C-470 at University Boulevard: The left lane of eastbound and westbound C-470 at University will be closed Sunday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

In addition to the weekend work, the following lane closures will be in place Monday, April 19th through Friday, April 23rd, weather permitting:
• Eastbound and Westbound C-470 at University Boulevard: The left lane of eastbound and westbound C-470 at University Boulevard will be closed Monday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
• Eastbound and Westbound C-470 at Broadway: The left lane of eastbound and westbound C-470 at Broadway will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
• Eastbound and Westbound C-470 at Santa Fe Drive: The left lane of eastbound and westbound C-470 at Santa Fe Drive will be closed on Thursday from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Delays are expected during work hours and alternate routes are strongly advised. CDOT would like to remind motorists to obey all traffic signs and flaggers and to “Slow for the Cone Zone.” Most fines will be doubled if the infraction occurs in the work zone.

This work is part of an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) project. The $32 million project will repair concrete along nine miles of C-470 and then pave the entire length in asphalt. Concrete repairs will also be made along 26 miles of the C-470 bike path between I-25 and I-70.

Castle Rock Construction Co. of Centennial, CO is the contractor for this project, which is scheduled to be complete by the end of September 2010.

In all, Colorado will receive more than $400 million from the Recovery Act for highway 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 http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/arra.

The oldest bridge on the FASTER list for replacement is the nearly 90-year-old cliff-hugging Million Dollar Highway bridge over Bear Creek Falls near Ouray. Inside Lane photo.

The Telluride Watch reports that drivers who regularly use Red Mountain Pass can expect major road construction starting this August when the Colorado Department of Transportation will begin a $5.7 million Bear Creek Bridge replacement project on U.S. Hwy. 550 south of Ouray.

Phase I of the project is expected to begin on Aug. 1 and end approximately Nov. 1, CDOT Region 5 Resident Engineer Ed Archuleta told the Ouray County Commissioners on Monday.

Go to the Telluride Watch to see the entire report.

The safety project in the 50-mph section will help prevent head-on collisions, CDOT says. The project is scheduled to begin this summer, according to Nashat Sawaged, an engineer with CDOT.

Go to the Littleton Independent to see the entire article.

CO 96 wood timber bridge over draw in Kiowa County, 3.3 miles east of Crowley County line.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

A total of $25.3 million in state highway projects funded by the FASTER program is in CDOT’s pipeline, including replacement of four wooden bridges along a state highway where volunteer firefighters died in 2008 crossing where a fifth wooden bridge had been destroyed in a wildfire.

The 10 separate projects include $8.2 million in bridge replacements and $17.1 million in road safety work.

The list includes those under contract, those with bids already taken and those currently out for bids.

FASTER, which stands for Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery, was passed by the legislature last year. It represents the first new local funding to come in to state transportation projects in 19 years, since the gas tax was last increased. Some of FASTER’s revenue is allocated to cities and counties for local roads.

FASTER established two separate fees, earmarked to road safety projects and to replacement of the 124 poor-rated bridges on the state highway network.

The annual road safety fee is a sliding scale based on vehicle weight. Ranging from $16 for light vehicles to $39 for vehicles over eight tons, the owner of the average passenger car between one and two and a half tons would pay $23.

The bridge fee is also a sliding scale based on weight, and is being phased in over three years. Currently at $9 for the average passenger car, it will be $18 in two more years.

As a result, the owner of an average passenger car would pay $41 in 2011-12 between the two fees.

Among the bridges being replaced this year are four wooden structures on CO 96 in Crowley and Kiowa counties in southeast Colorado. It was on this corridor that a fifth wooden bridge west of Ordway burned in the grassfires of April 2008, and a fire truck from the Olney Springs volunteers rushing to help protect Ordway plunged over the abutment and into the Numa Drain Canal. Two firefighters died in the crash. The structures had been built in the 1930s and 1940s.

Here is the list of FASTER projects currently in the process of contracting:

FASTER Safety Projects

Under contract:
• I-70 between the Eisenhower Tunnel and Bakerville: Upgrades median barrier and resurfaces I-70. Asphalt Specialties, $2,955,811.15
• I-25 between approximately CO 392 and Harmony Road: Rubblizes and repairs failing concrete on I-25. Coulson Excavating, $9,384,771.55

Bids received:
• I-70 between Eisenhower Tunnel and Silverthorne: Installs electronic signage to manage truck speeds and the westbound runaway truck ramp. Sturgeon Electric, $577,954
• I-70 at Georgetown Hill: Installs electronic signage to warn motorists of slow moving or stopped traffic. Sturgeon Electric, $122,513
• US 285 between Bailey and Richmond Hill: Paves US 285 in asphalt, installs guardrail, improves lane transitions at the end of the existing climbing lanes and widens shoulders. LaFarge North American, dba LaFarge West Inc., $2,662,412.20

Currently under ad for bids:
• CO 93 at CO 170, Eldorado Springs: Upgrades the traffic signal at the intersection. Engineer’s estimate, $330,000
• CO 392 at Weld County Road 31: Installs a new traffic signal at the intersection. Engineer’s estimate, $300,000
• I-76 near Hudson: Installs median cable guardrail to help prevent crossover accidents.- Engineer’s estimate, $750,000

FASTER Bridge Projects
• CO 69 over Turkey Creek: Bridge replacement. Engineer’s estimate, $3 million
• CO 96 over Draw and Black Draw: Replaces four bridges. Engineer’s estimate, $5.2 million

4th Street Bridge Advisory – Major Traffic Switch Friday Morning

April 14, 2010 – Southeastern Colorado/CDOT Region 2 – PUEBLO – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is getting ready to move all traffic on the current 4th Street Bridge onto the new westbound structure by 7 a.m. on Friday, April 16.

Drivers should expect occasional traffic stops and delays up to 10 minutes through the area on Thursday as preparations are made for the realignment.

Traffic is being moved to allow the eastbound bridge to be demolished over the next four to six weeks. In addition:
• Eastbound and westbound traffic will remain in a single-lane configuration on the new bridge
• No left turns will be allowed at the Elmhurst Place/Pearl Street intersection while construction is taking place near the west end of the bridge
• Pedestrians access will be limited to the new, north sidewalk on 4th Street due to demolition of the old bridge
• Traffic will be traveling on an unfinished road surface and may experience bumps, which will be removed when final paving is completed later this year
• Shoulder closures will remain on the new westbound bridge, allowing access for eastbound bridge construction
• The loop ramp from eastbound 4th Street to Midtown Center will remain closed until bridge demolition is complete
•
In addition, CDOT has closed the Arkansas River Trail under the bridges to maintain safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. It is scheduled to reopen on June 1, 2010.

The new eastbound bridge is expected to open to traffic in its final configuration in December 2010. Landscaping and other finishing work will take place in spring 2011, with project completion scheduled for summer 2011.

Eastbound Traffic Switch Tomorrow: Motorists Urged to Slow Down to the Posted 25 mph

GLENWOOD CANYON – The Colorado Department of Transportation and contractor Flatiron Construction will be switching eastbound traffic approaching the rockfall work zone tomorrow at 1 PM. At mile marker 125—about a half mile from the current work zone, eastbound traffic will be switched to the left (inside) lane to allow crews to make bridge deck repairs in the right lane.

Eastbound traffic will then shift back to the right lane just before Hanging Lake Tunnel, where both east- and westbound traffic utilize the eastbound lanes, separated by a concrete barrier.

Through the entire traffic-switch section and work zone, the speed limit is reduced to 25 MPH and there is a 14-foot width restriction. Traffic will remain in this configuration until this deck work is completed. Thank you for going “Slow for the Cone Zone!”

While the Glenwood Canyon bike path should open sometime in April, the section between the Shoshone power plant and Hanging Lake rest area will remain closed for safety until the project is completed, which will be on or before May 15.

ROCKFALL INCIDENT INFORMATION: Just after midnight on March 8, a large rockslide hit I-70 in Glenwood Canyon near mile marker 125, just west of Hanging Lake Tunnel. I-70 was closed in both directions to all traffic between Glenwood Springs (mm 116) and Dotsero (mm 133). The interstate reopened to a single lane of traffic in each direction on the afternoon of March 11.

The rockfall brought 20 boulders onto the interstate, ranging in size from 3 feet to10 feet in diameter. The largest weighed about 66 tons. The rocks made holes in the elevated sections of roadway—the largest being in the westbound lanes (closest to the hillside) and measuring 20 feet by 10 feet. Another hole in the lower eastbound lanes measured 6 feet by 6 feet. There were a half a dozen other holes and “dips” in the roadway, as well as areas where rocks were embedded. Most of these repair areas were approximately 5 feet by 5 feet. Rocks were scattered over 100 yards of roadway. Also damaged were three sections of steel guard rail and median barrier.

For information about other CDOT projects, the public may log on to www.coloradodot.info or call 511. To receive information directly, log on to this web site and click the icon in upper right corner entitled “Sign up for Email and Wireless Alerts.”

The speed limit on South Santa Fe Drive is due for an increase from the unrealistic 45 mph to 55 mph between Iowa and Belleview avenues. Inside Lane photo.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

The speed limit on South Santa Fe Drive’s expressway segment has long been under-posted at 45 mph. Most of the time outside rush hours, that seemed to be the slowest any driver went. Including the police.

But now, the Colorado Department of Transportation is expected to raise the limit to 55 mph, reflecting what the traffic already is safely doing.

The change would be in the 4½-mile segment between Iowa and Belleview avenues, passing through Denver, Englewood and Sheridan.

Drivers will benefit in at least two ways.

Many of them will no longer be caught in periodic ticket-writing sweeps of motorists who are driving the safe speed that the roadway and traffic allow.

Plus, they just might find it’s a safety improvement.

That’s right. Motorist safety tends to improve when traffic is moving along in a close range of speeds. People say speed kills, but more accurately, it’s differential in speed that kills. When posted speed limits are substantially less than the prevailing speed of traffic, the wider variation in speeds that result from some drivers observing the lower posted limit, mixing with those who are exceeding it, increases the chances of accidents.

Speed limit increase on South Santa Fe would be between Iowa and Belleview Avenues.

General practice says that speed limits should be set by measuring free-flowing traffic and determining the 85th percentile speed – the speed at or under which 85 percent of all drivers are traveling. Most of the vehicles tend to bunch around there. That number, rounded up to the closest multiple of 5, would be the speed limit.

Studies have shown that drivers tend to instinctively select the speed at which they feel safe and comfortable. Outliers who either intend to go faster or need to go slower are filtered out of the calculation by using the 85th percentile speed.

South Santa Fe has long been in need of change. Several years back, while commuting to work, I got in line behind Denver’s photo radar van when it pulled into traffic on Hampden Avenue at Sheridan after clicking automated ticket pictures of speeders there. I followed it off the exit at Santa Fe as it headed north toward downtown.

The photo radar van kept pulling away from me at 45, so I decided to keep pace with it. Just north of the Evans Avenue overpass – right where Denver sometimes still posts the speed van despite a state law that restricts where it can be used – the enforcement van topped out at 66 mph.

CDOT has actually found that a roadway’s average speed can be reduced when it raises the speed limit.

A speed limit that reflects what most traffic actually is doing prompts faster drivers to slow down because there is less need to pass slower traffic. That’s what happened when CDOT raised the limit on the Sixth Avenue Freeway in Lakewood in 2001 from 55 to 65 between Sheridan Boulevard and Interstate 70.

Data showed 85th percentile speeds dropped by up to 5 mph after the limit was raised. While up to nine percent of drivers had been going faster than 70 before the increase, no drivers during the survey were going that fast after the limit was raised.

CDOT has similarly raised the limits on Interstate 25 through the Denver Tech Center and on up to Evans Avenue, as well as on Interstate 225 between I-25 and Parker Road.

But the city of Boulder recently talked CDOT into lowering the speed limit on a mile and a half of U.S. 36 between Baseline Road and Foothills Parkway from 65 to 60. CDOT agreed to a three-year test period to see if it has an impact on safety.

According to CDOT, U.S. 36 carries 72,100 vehicles a day in that segment, and it has seen a significant increase in traffic volumes in the last few years. Over the last 10 years, CDOT said, there has been by a nine-percent increase in median barrier collisions.

That may actually have little to do with the speed limit increase, which took place almost 10 years ago as well, and more to do with the significant rise in total traffic. It would be difficult to attribute the cause of the increase in accidents to the speed limit without further analysis.

“Crash rates on this portion of U.S. 36 are not any different than other portions of US 36 or even similar types of highways, but we have seen an increase in median barrier collisions, which could be speed-related,” said CDOT Traffic Engineer Ina Zisman. “By lowering the speed limit for a three-year period, we can study the stretch and determine if speed is a factor and if the new speed limit has helped reduce median barrier collisions.”

To the extent that it fosters wider variations in motorist speeds, it may actually decrease safety.

One of Boulder’s concerns is highway noise in adjacent neighborhoods, and slower speeds produce less noise. But noise walls are usually the way to address that concern. Instituting a lower speed limit on a roadway on which prevailing speeds are higher is likely to foster widespread driver disregard of the lower limit and potentially decrease safety.

Resurfacing on US 160 west of Del Norte

RIO GRANDE COUNTY – The Colorado Department of Transportation has begun another resurfacing project in the San Luis Valley that will improve US 160 east of Del Norte. This project is made possible with $ 7.5 million in funding from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), as well an additional $482,000 in CDOT resurfacing funds.

“We had a number of great ARRA projects this past construction season, with many winning state and national awards for quality,” CDOT Region 5 Transportation Director Richard Reynolds said. “We also had great prices and these savings allowed us to fund this resurfacing project on US 160 west of Del Norte. In addition to repaving almost 15 miles of US 160, we will be adding Americans with Disability Act-approved sidewalk ramps to aid access from the highway to Del Norte’s sidewalks.”

CDOT contractor, APC Southern Construction Company of Penrose, began lowering manholes and water/sewer connections last week, and paving began Monday, April 12. The project will resurface the highway east of town between MP 201 and 215. (A previous ARRA-funded project a project resurfaced a 3.3-mile stretch of US 160 west of Del Norte, from mile post 197.7 to MP 201.) Additional work consists of shoulder milling/paving and curb and sidewalk through the town of Del Norte, which will include ADA ramps (Americans with Disabilities Act).

“I’m glad that Recovery Act funding has helped provide needed resurfacing on this stretch of Highway 160 and sidewalk improvements and ADA upgrades in Del Norte,” Congressman John Salazar (CO-03) said. “I will continue to support projects like these; projects that improve our country’s infrastructure while putting Americans to work.”

TRAVEL IMPACTS: Work hours are Monday through Friday, 6:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. Motorists can expect some single-lane, alternating traffic and possible travel delays of up to 15 minutes. All business accesses will be maintained, but may be temporarily altered. There will be no holiday work and no weekend work is anticipated. CDOT and APC Southern Construction greatly appreciate your patience and cooperation while driving through the work zone. Thank you for going Slow for the Cone Zone.

PROJECT QUESTIONS/COMMENTS? Call Judy Lopez with APC, at 719-849-0946. For information about other CDOT projects, log on to http://www.coloradodot.info/ or call 511 from anywhere in the state.

In all, Colorado will receive more than $400 million for transportation projects and $103 million for transit projects statewide. 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 and additional ARRA information, visit http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/arra.