First Phase of I-25 Widening Begins Tonight

March 28, 2013 - Southeastern Colorado/CDOT Region 2 - Initial work includes temporary closure of Ackerman Overlook - COLORADO SPRINGS – Work gets underway this evening on the @i25expansion Project as the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and its project contractor begin preparing the highway for the upcoming widening project between north Colorado Springs and Monument.

The project originally was scheduled to begin last Monday but the arrival of adverse weather over the weekend postponed it.

Drivers should anticipate single lane closures between 8:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.  Tonight’s work includes restriping and other tasks in preparation for barrier placement, which begins on Monday, April 1, and continues for approximately three weeks, depending on weather.  Except for Easter Sunday, barrier placement will be done Sunday through Thursday nights.

Concrete barriers will be placed along the outside lanes of northbound and southbound Interstate 25, creating a protected work zone in two areas:

1.    From Woodmen Road north to just past the N. Academy Boulevard interchange. This work includes reducing the number of northbound through traffic lanes from three to two between Woodmen Road and N. Academy Boulevard.

2.    From the Briargate interchange to just north of the Interquest Parkway interchange. Traffic will shift toward the highway median as crews prepare to demolish and rebuild the outside lanes of the Black Squirrel Creek Bridge, just north of Interquest.

Additionally, the Ackerman Overlook, located along southbound I-25 just north of the Briargate interchange, will close April 1.  It will be reconstructed north of its current location at a future date.

CDOT’s $66.4 million @i25expansion Project will widen 11 miles of I-25 to three lanes in each direction between Woodmen Road in Colorado Springs and Monument.  These capacity improvements are designed to not only improve safety, mobility and travel along the Front Range, but also have the potential to contribute to the economic vitality of the Pikes Peak Region.

Drivers are reminded stay alert while driving through the work zones due to possible modifications to the travel lanes.  Speed limits also will be reduced through the entire construction corridor, with fines for speeding doubled.

More @i25expansion Project information is available by visiting www.southi25expansion.com. Please call the project hotline at 719-247-8339 to have comments and questions addressed by the project team. To receive project updates via email or text, register at www.coloradodot.info and click on the green cellphone in the upper right corner of the page.

CDOT also has launched a new smartphone application to provide drivers with easier access to I-25 traveler information. It includes travel speeds and times, road conditions, incidents, road work; and feeds from CDOT's closed-circuit television cameras and alerts.  Text CDOT to 25827 or download CDOT Mobile from your App store.