Construction of the FasTracks West Corridor light rail project will reach a milestone next week with three overnight closures of Wadsworth Boulevard at 13th Avenue to set girders on what is planned to be Lakewood’s signature bridge. The Wadsworth Station on the West Corridor will be smack on top of the bridge.

Using the same methods that brought the acclaimed T-REX highway and transit project in on schedule and budget, the Colorado Department of Transportation is beginning a much smaller but urgent project that already has gained savings before dirt is moved. Four miles of the Hampden expressway between Federal Boulevard and Kipling Street will be a work zone for nearly two years starting this fall in a $40.5 million design-build job. Already, CDOT and the contractor have fit in additional improvements from the original plan, which will replace three bridges at Wadsworth Boulevard, Pierce Street and Federal Boulevard.