Highway 85 Widening Project Underway
DOUGLAS COUNTY – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is reconstructing and widening another segment of U.S. 85 between Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock.
In addition to rebuilding the highway with concrete and widening 1.3-miles of highway from two to four lanes between Cook Ranch to north of Louviers, the project also involves construction of two new bridges – at Highlands Gulch (picture below) and Oxide Draw, new medians, curbs and gutters, a new storm drain system, detention ponds, landscaping, and signing.
Work is taking place during the following times:
- Monday through Friday – 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Primarily shoulder and off-road work. Only occasional traffic stops, as needed.
- Sunday through Thursday – 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Traffic stops up to 15 minutes.
The speed limit is reduced to 40 mph through the project area during work hours.
“When this segment is completed in July of 2013, U.S. 85 will be a four-lane highway between C-470 and the Louviers area,” said CDOT Resident Engineer Roman Jauregui. “That’s key since improvements to Highway 85 are vital for the future traffic requirements of the metro area.”
Dondlinger & Sons Construction of Wichita, KS is the contractor for the $7.9 million project, of which $2.4 million is being funded by FASTER. Since this corridor is vital to transportation in Douglas County, it is partnering with CDOT and providing $4 million to help fund the highway portion of the project.
FASTER dedicates money to bridges through the Colorado Bridge Enterprise (CBE), a government-owned business entity within CDOT. The Colorado General assembly created the CBE to complete designated bridge projects that involve the financing, repair, reconstruction and replacement of bridges designated as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and rated “poor” by CDOT. More information is available at: http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/BridgeEnterprise.
Please call the project hotline at 303-223-3871 or email at: [email protected] for comments or questions. To receive free road information updates from CDOT via wireless device or e-mail, please visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the green cell-phone icon in the upper right-hand corner. The link takes you to a list of items you can subscribe to, including I-25 South, Denver to Colorado Springs (includes US 85, SH 83, and SH 86). Updates also are available by calling 511 or at www.coloradodot.info.
