Emergency paving work on I-25 south of Colorado Springs to start Tuesday
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- For the second time in a year, the Colorado Department of Transportation is performing temporary paving work on Interstate 25 between South Academy Boulevard and the main Fountain Exit.
CDOT describes the work as emergency repairs to fill potholes and make other improvements along the eight-mile corridor before winter weather arrives.
Because such paving work is weather-sensitive, the warm and dry fall weather allows CDOT to do the project at a time when conditions normally wouldn't allow it.
Paving work begins Tuesday and ends Thursday; hours are from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and the speed limit in that section will be lowered to 55 mph; drivers should expect single-lane closures during paving.
In good weather early November of last year, CDOT performed similar paving in the same area to prepare for eventually replacing the pavement with concrete as part of the Military Access, Mobility & Safety Improvement Project.
That paving was done by simply applying asphalt to the existing pavement, instead of the normal process of milling -- grinding off old pavement before new asphalt is applied.
Concrete work was supposed to start this year, but some of the federal funding for which CDOT qualified wasn't available and work is scheduled to start next year.
Dan Hunt, a CDOT engineer, said that there's a limit to how much crews can take advantage of late-season good weather.
"We watch the weather and we can plan ahead for a few days or maybe a week," he said. "But not for a month or several months. Most places plan their paving projects early and schedule the work for completion early in the fall."
The MAMSIP was approved and funded several years ago to improve transportation safety and access in and out of area military installations.
The latest paving job will benefit two of the main main entrances at Fort Carson, with one gate having already been improved and the second scheduled for upgrades as part of the MAMSIP.
Eventually, the project to improve that stretch of I-25 will include replacing both of the overpasses above South Academy Boulevard; upgrades to four other bridges; widening shoulders; and installing a guardrail in the median.
