Overnight closures on Interstate 25 in Fountain to begin Monday and continue through Saturday
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Drivers should prepare for another travel inconvenience this week, on top of the many road projects already in progress.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will repave a half-mile stretch of the interstate in both directions, requiring temporary overnight closures of I-25 between Mesa Ridge Parkway and Santa Fe Avenue.
CDOT announced the temporary overnight closures last Friday.
The northbound closure of I-25 in this area starts Monday night through Thursday night, from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.; and continues Friday from 8 p.m. until Saturday at 10 a.m.
The southbound I-25 closure will be from Tuesday night through Thursday night, from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m., and from 8 p.m. until 10 a.m. Saturday.
The affected stretch of I-25 is part of the 7.5 miles where CDOT replaced crumbling old asphalt with new concrete; that project started two years ago between South Academy Boulevard and Santa Fe Avenue.
You may be wondering why paving work is needed with the new concrete.
A CDOT engineer said that the project is in its finishing stages; the concrete installation actually ends just north of the Santa Fe exit and the pavement from there, to just south of the overpass remains in rough shape.
So, crews will repave that section to bring the project closer to its final configuration; the entire project should be finished by the end of the year.
Drivers should be aware that the only detour around the temporary overnight closures on I-25 in this area is to take Mesa Ridge and Santa Fe, and get there by using Highway 85-87.
The I-25 work is one of four facets of a $161 million project to improve traffic flow and safety around area military installations -- particularly Fort Carson.
Two of those projects -- a roundabout at Charter Oak Ranch Road that also improved the entrance to Fort Carson's Gate 19, and a passing lane on Highway 94 near Schriever Space Force Base -- are finished.
The ongoing widening of South Academy Boulevard and replacement of two bridges over I-25 are part of the overall project.
