Bridge Girder Installation to Close Pierce Street Under US 285 Tonight

November 1, 2010 - Denver Metro Colorado/CDOT Region 6 - DENVER— Tonight, November 1st, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will install girders for a portion of the new US 285 bridge over Pierce Street.

This activity will require a full closure of northbound and southbound Pierce Street under US 285 as well as a single left lane closure on westbound US 285 near Pierce Street.

The single lane closure on westbound US 285 will begin at 7 p.m. and the full closure of Pierce Street under US 285 will begin at 9 p.m.  All lanes of westbound US 285 and Pierce Street will reopen by 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

During the closure of Pierce Street, detour routes will be in place:

  • Southbound Piece Street Detour: Motorists on southbound Pierce Street will take westbound Hampden Frontage Road to southbound Wadsworth Boulevard where they will return to eastbound on the West Hampden Frontage Road for access to Pierce Street.
  • Northbound Pierce Street Detour: Motorists on northbound Pierce Street will take westbound West Hampden Frontage Road to northbound Wadsworth Boulevard where they will return eastbound on West Girton Avenue and south on South Vance Street to Hampden Frontage Road for access to Pierce Street.

CDOT would like to remind motorists to plan ahead, obey all traffic signs and flaggers and to “Slow for the Cone Zone.”  Fines for most infractions that occur in the work zone will be doubled.

The girder installation is part of a safety and mobility improvement project on US 285 between Federal Boulevard and Kipling Parkway.  The $40.1 million design-build project will reconstruct US 285 and replace three bridges among other improvements.

In all, the project will:

o   Reconstruct approximately four miles of US 285 between Federal Boulevard and Kipling Parkway

o   Replace the bridges on US 285 over Wadsworth Boulevard, Pierce Street and Federal Boulevard

o   Add additional through lanes on Wadsworth Boulevard and reconstruct the US 285/Wadsworth Boulevard intersection

o   Rehabilitate the bridge decks on US 285 over Estes Street, Bear Creek, Raleigh Street and Sheridan Boulevard

o   Widen the inside shoulder of US 285 between Wadsworth Boulevard and Sheridan Boulevard

o   Add an additional left turn lane from southbound Knox Court to eastbound US 285

o   Construct drainage and water quality improvements to accommodate potential future widening or other construction projects

Concrete Express Inc. and Tsiouvaras, Simmons, and Holderness, Inc. is the design-build team for this project that will be completed by the end of June 2011.

For more information about this project, visit http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/us285wadsdb.