Interchange Improvement Project Begins on I-25 at Santa Fe Drive

July 11, 2011 - DENVER— Today, July 11th, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) began an interchange improvement project at the I-25/Santa Fe Drive interchange that will make a variety of improvements to the infrastructure and operations of the highway.

The following improvements will take place as part of this $32.1 million project:

  • Replacement of the existing I-25 bridges over Santa Fe Drive that are currently in poor condition. Both bridges were originally constructed in 1958.
  • Construction of a new flyover ramp from northbound Santa Fe Drive to northbound I-25, eliminating the left side on-ramp and improving operations and safety for this major traffic movement.
  • Reconstruction and realignment of I-25 from the north end of the Broadway viaduct to just south of Alameda Avenue to provide lane continuity. Once complete, there will be four lanes on I-25 in each direction through Denver from C-470 to US 36.

“This is an extremely important project for the I-25 corridor, which carries around 208,000 vehicles a day, said CDOT Resident Engineer Ron Buck.  “To get to the final product, there will be a great deal of construction activity from the beginning resulting in ramp closures, traffic realignments and lane closures.”

The first phase of construction will realign northbound and southbound Santa Fe Drive near I-25 to the west and then construct the new northbound I-25 over Santa Fe Drive bridge.  To complete the realignment and accommodate the bridge reconstruction, the following ramps have been closed for the majority of the project:

  • Northbound Santa Fe Drive to southbound I-25
  • Southbound Santa Fe Drive to southbound I-25

The detour route for both ramps takes motorists to eastbound Mississippi Avenue and then to Broadway where

access to southbound I-25 is available.

“To accommodate the bridge construction and realignment of Santa Fe Drive, we must close these ramps and use them as part of the realignment,” added Buck. “This will allow us to keep all lanes of I-25 open during construction except for the nightly lane closures during non-peak hours.”

Throughout the project, motorists can expect various traffic realignments, ramp closures and lane closures on I-25, Santa Fe Drive and Kalamath Street during the following times:

  • I-25: Motorists can expect single lane closures on I-25 from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., Sunday through Thursday. Double lane closures and full closures can take place from 11 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., Sunday through Thursday.
  • Santa Fe Drive/Kalamath Street: Motorists can expect single lane closures on Santa Fe Drive and Kalamath Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday and from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., Sunday through Thursday.

Major delays are expected throughout the project, especially as work continues on the I-25/Alameda Avenue project. CDOT would like to remind motorists to obey all construction signs and flaggers and to “Slow for the Cone Zone.” Fines for most infractions that occur in the work zone will be doubled.

Hamon Contractors, Inc. is the contractor for this project, which is being partially funded by Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery (FASTER).  FASTER is dedicated to repairing and replacing poor bridges and making safety improvements on Colorado highways. The entire project will be complete by the end of July 2013.

For more information about this project, visit http://www.coloradodot.info/projects/I25SantaFe. To receive e-mail updates about the project, visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the icon in the upper right-hand corner.  The link will take you to a list of items you can subscribe to including the “I-25 at Santa Fe Drive” list under “Projects.”