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 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It is slightly different from a proposal last fall that was withdrawn as the economy tanked.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

Last week, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) completed the first phase of the bridge replacement project at I-25 and 104th Avenue. With the northern portion of the new bridge now complete, westbound 104th Avenue has been realigned to the north and construction is starting on the center portion of the new bridge this week with bridge demolition.

“A third of the new bridge is now complete so it is time to demolish the center portion of the existing bridge and construct the center portion of the new bridge,” said CDOT Resident Engineer John Schwab. “To complete the bridge demolition, we will completely close I-25 near 104th Avenue over the next three nights. We strongly encourage motorists to seek alternate routes as there will be major delays.”

The bridge demolition will take place Tuesday, January 5th through Thursday, January 7th. Each night, all lanes of northbound and southbound I-25 near 104th Avenue will be closed at 9 p.m. and will reopen by 5:30 a.m. the following day. During the full closure of I-25, motorists will be detoured via the on and off ramps at 104th Avenue. No left turns onto 104th Avenue will be allowed during the closure. Uniformed traffic control will be used to direct motorists through the interchange.

Major delays are expected 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. For more information on the project visit http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/I25104th.

Hamon Contractors, Inc. is the contractor for this $6.5 million project scheduled to be complete by the end of September 2010. 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.

The Loveland Reporter-Herald reports that recent dry weather has helped work progress smoothly on two Interstate 25 interchange projects.

Crews have started pouring concrete for new ramps at I-25 and Crossroads Boulevard, and pre-construction site work has begun for work just south at the I-25 interchange at U.S. 34.

Go to the Loveland Reporter-Herald to see the entire story.