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. As a result of the upcoming bridge demolition, there will be various lane closures on 104th Avenue as well as I-25 next week.

In a recent bridge inspection that took place earlier this week, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) bridge engineers determined that portions of the northbound I-25 bridge deck over Santa Fe Drive need to be rehabilitated due to deteriorating concrete.

The repairs include removing the existing asphalt, removing the deteriorated concrete, replacing the bridge deck with new concrete, paving, and striping. The majority of the repairs will take place in the right lane of northbound I-25 with additional work taking place in the other lanes of northbound I-25 over Santa Fe Drive.

More than $390 million in road construction projects on state highways will be underway this year in the metro Denver area, with more than a third of the total funded by the federal stimulus program.

The Colorado Independent reports that the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority estimates high-speed passenger rail service on dedicated tracks along the Interstate 25 and Interstate 70 corridors will cost $22 billion and likely require up to 50-percent funding by Colorado taxpayers,.

Harry Dale, the authority’s chairman, Harry Dale, said the higher cost of building dedicated lines rather than using existing freight lines or right-of-ways makes long-term financial sense. The assessment in part of a $1.5 million feasibility study funded mostly by the Colorado Department of Transportation.

High-speed trains traveling in excess of 100 mph would command premium fares allowing for a model of $2 in fare revenue for every $1 of operational costs. That means a private company could operate a Colorado franchise at a profit, eliminating the need for annual operational subsidies, the study says.

The Summit County Citizens Voice reports that the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority is close to releasing a final version of its feasibility study for high-speed rail, which would run north-south along the Interstate 25 corridor between Fort Collins and Pueblo, and east-west along Interstate 70 between Eagle and Denver International Airport.

“There are a whole slew of alternatives that are feasible,” said Harry Dale, Clear Creek County commissioner and chairman of the authority.

The Loveland Reporter-Herald reports that the new design for the city’s most visible gateway on Interstate 25 leaves intact most of the features of the original one, including extensive landscaping, monuments and an arch-topped bridge carrying U.S. 34 across I-25.

It is slightly different from a proposal last fall that was withdrawn as the economy tanked. The design is subject to approval by the Centerra Metropolitan District and the Loveland City Council, both of which seem assured, work on the $2.9 million plan will begin this spring, and extensive landscape plantings can be done next spring.

The Fort Collins Coloradoan reports that the ramp from northbound Interstate 25 to Crossroads Boulevard will be completely closed from 7 a.m. Monday until 5 p.m. Friday, weather permitting, as part of the ongoing construction at this interchange.

The Colorado Department of Transportation will close southbound Interstate 25 through Trinidad on Sunday night, Feb. 28, for construction of the adjacent bridge over the Purgatoire River. Beginning at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 28, southbound I-25 will be closed at Colorado Avenue (Exit 14B). Traffic will detour west to Colorado Avenue, south on Nevada Avenue to Santa Fe Trail, returning to I-25 at Exit 11. Southbound I-25 will reopen to traffic by 6 a.m. on Monday, March 1.

The Loveland Reporter-Herald reports that construction has begun on the $8.5 million redesigned interchange of Interstate 25 and U.S. 34 in Loveland. New Design Construction Co. of Denver is expected to take 10 months to complete the work.

CDOT Press Release

The bridge demolition scheduled for tonight at I-25 and 104th Avenue has been canceled again due to weather and all lanes of northbound and southbound I-25 will remain open tonight. But demolition of the old 104th Avenue bridge is now tentatively scheduled for Sunday and Monday overnights. All lanes of northbound and southbound I-25 will be closed from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. on those nights, and motorists will be detoured via the on and off-ramps at 104th Avenue.