Traffic Realignment to Close Westbound I-70 Next Week

November 11, 2011 - TRAFFIC ADVISORY - Denver Metro Colorado/CDOT Region 6 - DENVER— On Sunday, November 13th and Monday, November 14th, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT ) will close all lanes of westbound I-70 between Central Park Boulevard and Quebec Street in order to realign traffic.

The work is part of an ongoing bridge replacement project on I-70 over Sand Creek.

“We recently completed the northern portion of the new bridge and are ready to begin the next phase of construction, which will replace the center portion of the bridge,” said CDOT Project Engineer Pablo Lopez. “To begin the next phase of construction, we need to move westbound I-70 to the north onto the new bridge. The full closures of westbound I-70 over two nights will allow us to complete the realignment.”

To complete the work, the following lane closures will be in place on Sunday and Monday, weather permitting:

Westbound between Central Park Boulevard and Quebec Street: One lane of westbound I-70 will be closed at 7 p.m. with a second lane closing at 10 p.m. and all lanes closing at midnight. From midnight until 5:30 a.m. the following day, all lanes of westbound I-70 will be closed. Detour: Motorists on westbound I-70 will exit at Central Park Boulevard and will be guided by detour signs to Quebec Street where access to westbound I-70 and westbound I-270 is available.

Major delays are possible on Sunday and Monday night and alternate routes are strongly advised. CDOT would like to remind motorists to obey all construction signs and flaggers and to “Slow for the Cone Zone.”

The new alignment, which will be in place for the Tuesday morning commute, will be in place for approximately eight months while crews demolish and reconstruct the center and southern portions of the westbound I-70 bridge over Sand Creek.

The realignment is part of a project that replaces the eastbound and westbound I-70 bridges over Sand Creek, which are located between Quebec Street and I-270, with one structure. The replacement of the bridges will accommodate longer acceleration and deceleration lanes from Quebec Street to I-70, which will improve safety for motorists entering and exiting the highway. The existing eastbound I-70 structure was originally constructed in 1960 and the westbound I-70 structure was constructed in 1964. Both bridges are in poor condition.

Lawrence Construction Co. is the contractor for this $8 million project scheduled to be complete by the end of July 2012. The project is being funding by the Colorado Bridge Enterprise, which uses a small portion of vehicle registration fees to repair or replace poor bridges.