Highway 115 - Gate 5 Project Begins

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) project involves widening SH 115 from two to four lanes for approximately one mile, north and south of Titus Boulevard (Gate 5), including new turn and acceleration and deceleration lanes.  Other upgrades include installation of a new traffic signal, relocating and realigning Pine Oaks Drive with Titus Boulevard, new guardrails, curbs, gutters, fencing and culvert extensions.

Project hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.  Traffic impacts are minimal, with lane shifts on SH 115, and shoulder closures through the work area.  However, traffic may need to be stopped occasionally for various construction activities.

“This is primarily a safety project,” says CDOT Project Engineer Wayne Pittman.  “By installing a new signal and adding traffic lanes, it’ll greatly improve the merging capabilities between Highway 115, Gate 5 and Pine Oaks Drive since the hilly geography around the intersection has intensified the conflict between through traffic, turning traffic and merging traffic.”

Realigning Pine Oaks Drive with Titus Boulevard will improve safety by eliminating the current problem of traffic merging onto SH 115, just north of Titus.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of October 2011.

R.E. Monks Construction Company of Colorado Springs, Colo., is the contractor for the $3.6 million project.

Updated information regarding traffic impacts on this or other CDOT projects is available at www.cotrip.org or by calling 511.  To receive project updates via e-mail, visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the cell-phone icon in the upper right-hand corner.  The link takes you to a list of items you can subscribe to, including Southeast Colorado.