CDOT holds I-25 Gap Project groundbreaking ceremony, construction to begin Tuesday

Officials broke ground for the long-awaited I-25 South Gap Project Thursday. The project plans to widen 18 miles of Interstate 25 between Monument and Castle Rock.

The ceremony took place at the I-25 and County Line Road interchange. Governor John Hickenlooper, the Colorado Department of Transportation, Colorado State Patrol, local officials and the construction team were at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“If you look at 80-thousand vehicles over this 18-mile stretch it doesn’t seem like that much but just like water through a river, a slight increase in traffic backs everything up. This is going to allow us to avoid so much of that,” Gov. Hickenlooper said.

The project will add one toll lane in each direction, drivers can get around the toll fee by having three or more passengers in the car. The project is expected to cost $350 million.

Construction is scheduled for completion in late 2021 or early 2022.

Most of the work will be done in the center median, CDOT said and will start Tuesday on the Castle Rock end.

Construction will continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with lane restrictions during the day. Lane and ramp closures will be only at night.