CDOT completes temporary paving project on I-25 south of Colorado Springs but related overnight work continues

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) --The Colorado Department of Transportation said Monday that heavy traffic, and not the relatively mild weather, caused a delay in repaving an eight-mile stretch of Interstate 25 between Colorado Springs and Fountain.

The paving started the last week in November and was scheduled to require three days during midday hours.

"But because of traffic, we had trouble getting our trucks to where they needed to be," said Dan Hunt, a CDOT engineer. "We needed an additional seven days for that paving and we finally finished it last week."

The work is only temporary, designed to fill potholes through the winter until CDOT tears it out to replace the asphalt with more durable concrete.

"That will start this spring," Hunt said. "Concrete will last a lot longer and won't require nearly as much maintenance."

Meanwhile, drivers have noticed lane closures overnight as crews work on northbound I-25 in the Fountain area. Hunt said that it's part of the process toward the concrete project.

"We are creating three pull-out areas for driver safety," Hunt said. "So that if people have a flat tire or something like that, they'll have a safe place to pull over out of traffic. Those will come in handy when the concrete work starts. Eventually, we'll also create some southbound pull-outs."

Crews are also building permanent advance warning signs to alert drivers during the concrete work.

Hunt said that the overnight work will continue for another week or two, between the hours of 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., except for New Year's weekend.

Speed limits will be lowered to 55 mph and fines will be doubled in the work zone.

"Drivers have been very cooperative with us so far," Hunt said. "We ask that they continue to drive safely."