CDOT enters final year of I-25 improvements between Fillmore St and Garden of the Gods Rd
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — In case the holidays kept you too busy to see The Road Warrior's report a week before Christmas, updating the nearly three-year project to improve a 1.5-mile stretch of I-25, we're bringing you another look at the progress to date.
Work started in the fall of 2023 and is scheduled to end late this summer.
The project's $62 million cost makes it one of the most expensive in the city's history, and it is ambitious in its objectives, covering a relatively small area.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) recently opened the three new northbound lanes that are wider, with wider shoulders and guardrails; the new alignment also straightened out a sharp curve there.
During that construction, driving was more challenging because of narrower lanes, the lack of nighttime lighting, rough pavement, and the absence of shoulders to pull over in an emergency.
The same changes will be made on the southbound side.
Another accomplishment was to replace twin bridges on I-25 above Ellston Street and tear down the old structures.
"What they're working on now (under the bridges) is pulling out all of the hot mix asphalt that was laid, so that a new water line can be placed," said Amber Shipley of CDOT. "To get that new pavement down, so that Ellston Street can resume travel. It's been closed since the project began.
Crews also increased the amount of drainage infrastructure in the area.
East of the new northbound alignment between I-25 and Sinton Road, you can see a vacant area where crews will start building an additional lane designed to increase safety and reduce a congestion bottleneck for drivers trying to merge onto and off of the freeway.
"Having a place that you can merge on and off the interstate that's dedicated to that purpose, rather than having to interfere with the main travel lanes, is really the goal of that project," Shipley explained. "Drivers will be able to travel between the two interchanges without having to leave the lane."
A similar lane — referred to as an acceleration/deceleration lane — will be built on the southbound side.
Eventually, crews will build a concrete wall in the center median and repave lanes in both directions.
This spring, CDOT plans to perform extensive repair work on the I-25 bridge above Garden of the Gods Road; that work will require some full bridge closures during overnight hours on weekends.
"We hope to finish that work in two weekends," Shipley said.
On Wednesday morning, CDOT clarified that the acceleration/deceleration lanes have already been built, but are being used for traffic until crews complete the inner road shoulders there.
