Major Traffic Pattern Change to Occur NB I-25, RidgeGate to County Line

June 10, 2015 - Denver Metro/CDOT Region 1 - DENVER – Starting Sunday, June 14, northbound I-25 between RidgeGate Parkway (Exit 192) and County Line Road (Exit 195) will split into two lanes to the left and two lanes to the right of a temporary work zone.

Crews will work overnight on Saturday, June 13, to move barrier and prepare northbound I-25 and affected ramps for the new configuration, which will be operable on Sunday—weather depending.  This new traffic pattern will be in place for up to three weeks.

Motorists are encouraged to use extra attention when approaching the work zone from the south. Starting at RidgeGate Parkway, drivers in the two left lanes of northbound I-25 will not have access to an off-ramp until Dry Creek Road. Motorists wanting to exit northbound I-25 at Lincoln Avenue, C-470/E470 or County Line Road must be in the two right lanes prior to the RidgeGate Parkway interchange. All RidgeGate Parkway and Lincoln Avenue on-ramp traffic will have direct access to northbound I-25 on the right side of the work zone. All affected ramps and the right lanes of I-25 will not connect with the two left lanes until north of the County Line Road off-ramp. Extensive signage will begin approximately two miles south of RidgeGate Parkway to provide motorists with guidance well in advance of the traffic split.

The traffic split is approximately two miles long and will be in place for up to three weeks. During the traffic split, four northbound lanes will be available—two to the left of the work zone and two to the right. Currently, northbound I-25 is striped as three lanes with an auxiliary lane between the Lincoln Avenue direct on-ramp and the C-470/E470 off-ramp. Given the additional capacity introduced with the traffic split, no alternate routes are suggested. However, motorist are encouraged to stay in the left lanes if they do not need to exit I-25 before Dry Creek.  By performing this short traffic split phase now, crews anticipate completing the project two months early.

A number of resources, including a short animation, are available on the project website (www.codot.gov/projects/i25lanebalance) to assist motorists in understanding and navigating the traffic split.

After this short phase, all northbound traffic will shift east onto new concrete pavement for the next project phase, which reconstructs the center of I-25 between northbound and southbound travel lanes.

Background
The I-25 Widening Project will add an additional lane in each direction on I-25 from Lincoln Avenue to County Line Road, resulting in four lanes in each direction south of the C-470 / E-470 interchange. In addition to expanding capacity on I-25, crews will replace existing asphalt with concrete to better match the I-25 corridor. This project will improve the traffic patterns from and to all affected ramps as well as provide new pedestrian connections. Funded by CDOT, Douglas County, City of Lone Tree and the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), this $32 million project is intended to be substantially complete by the end of 2015.

Updated information regarding this project is available by calling the project hotline (303) 358-7643 or visiting the website at www.codot.gov/projects/i25lanebalance. For information on other projects, visit http://www.cotrip.org, call 511 or download CDOT mobile.