Ilex Project Team announces new dates for final traffic configuration and overall project completion

The delay resulted from the Ilex project team needing to revise design plans and add a fourth bridge for the crossing for the Thomas Phelps Creek Trail. The original design was for a simple box culvert pedestrian tunnel under I-25. The culvert would have been accomplished by purchasing the railroad easement of a currently unused rail line. However, the landowner, Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR), decided to maintain ownership of the easement for its possible future use. With the Interstate-25 design already complete and construction underway, the contractor had to suspend work in the area until a new bridge over the rail line could be designed and added to the project.

“We wanted to ensure the project continued moving forward, so Flatiron Constructors, Inc. began the bridge rehabilitation work earlier than planned,” said Jennifer Billings, CDOT Project Manager.  “Final touches are taking place on the Mesa Avenue bridge, and bridge work on Northern Avenue, I‐25 over Indiana Avenue, and the truss bridge on Santa Fe will be near completion in the next few months."

“We’ve worked hard to keep impacts to the travelling public minimal,” said Billings, “but to meet the new completion schedule, the public should expect longer-term ramp closures, continuing nighttime I-25 closures, and periodic daytime I-25 lane closures, as needed. We sincerely thank the public for its ongoing patience.”

PROJECT INFORMATION: The I-25 Ilex Street to City Center Drive project is the first project of the New Pueblo Freeway: the reconstruction of I-25 between City Center Drive (1st Street) and Ilex Street through downtown Pueblo. Construction includes upgrading several bridges south of downtown. The project began in July 2015. Traffic will be in its final configuration by December 2018 and the project overall complete by spring 2019.

For updated project information, visit https://www.codot.gov/projects/ilexbridges or call 719-470-2270. To be added to the database for receiving project updates by e-newsletter, send an email to: [email protected].

• To receive real-time updates about road conditions in your area, visit www.cotrip.org or call 511 from anywhere in the state

• Information about weekly lane closures is available at https://www.codot.gov/travel/scheduled-lane-closures.html

• For information regarding CDOT projects statewide, log on to www.codot.gov

Updates are also available via Twitter @coloradodot and be sure to “Like” our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/coloradodot.