Drivers give holiday travel through Interstate 25 ‘Gap’ mixed reviews

Generally good traffic flow, but still too many crashes, is how drivers described navigating the “Gap” construction zone between Monument and Castle Rock during the holiday weekend.

To reduce traffic impacts as much as possible, workers on the Gap project took the holiday off from widening the 20-mile stretch of Interstate 25.

The narrow stretch of highway can be dangerous at times and is a target for heavy traffic congestion, bad weather and crashes.

Sunday was particularly challenging for drivers because of returning holiday travelers, heavy shopping activity and a Denver Broncos home game in the afternoon.

The worst reported incident appeared to be the temporary closure of I-25 on Friday because of a crash near the Larkspur exit.

There were numerous other crashes Sunday, including one in front of a KRDO NewsChannel 13 crew in the northbound lanes just north of the El Paso-Douglas county line. Three cars were damaged, and three others swerved to avoid the crash. No one was seriously hurt.

That crash wasn’t in the construction zone, where lanes are narrower, but other crashes were.

“It’s taking me two hours to drive through this congestion to reach my destination,” a driver said. “Not much you can do about it.”

“I was surprised to see so much traffic,” another driver said. “I wasn’t expecting it. I’m glad they started this project to improve it through here.”
A mother of several children said driving through such heavy traffic wasn’t good for her family.

“We’re going slow, and the kids are getting restless,” she said. “We’re going all the way to New Mexico. I finally pulled over at a scenic area and took some pictures to get them out of the van and give them a break.”Work on the project continues Monday. The $350 million project started in September and will take around three years to finish, widening the highway from two to three lanes in both directions.