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Bridgework prominent as Cimarron/I-25 project reaches halfway mark

       With four bridges being completed and traffic shifts in the offing, Phase 1 work rumbles into fall for the new, $113 million Cimarron/I-25 interchange.
       Despite the activity, contractor Kraemer North America plans to keep three interstate lanes open each way in the daytime, saving its road closures
Looking west from the existing Cimarron Street bridge over Conejos Street and the railroad tracks, progress is seen on the new Cimarron bridge east of I-25, going over Fountain Creek. Cimarron (also Highway 24) is being moved slightly south of its old alignment as part of the interchange project.
Westside Pioneer photo
and lane restrictions for nighttime in the often round-the-clock project.
       The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) project started with Phase 0 in May 2015, transitioned to Phase 1 in March and is slated to move on to Phase 2 in November.
       “The project is over 50 percent complete,” a CDOT press release stated in late August. Late 2017 is the target finish date.
       The four bridges nearing readiness are SB I-25 and three spans over Fountain Creek - the one west of I-25 that's already being used by eastbound Cimarron Street/Highway 24 traffic; the crossing (also west of I-25) for the permanent SB off-ramp just before Cimarron; and, east of I-25, where Cimarron goes over the Fountain just south of its confluence with Monument Creek.
       Here is the planned order of Cimarron/I-25 events into November ( weather-dependent):
       - September: Paving will prepare the I-25 SB bridge for traffic. Paving at the same time will occur on the new I-25 SB lanes between the Cimarron and Nevada/Tejon interchanges. Those lanes are being built up to 75 feet west of the previous alignment, in conjunction with a new embankment intended to ease the curve between those interchanges.
       - October: Cimarron's new SB bridge will open, along with the Cimarron-to-Nevada SB lanes. Traffic in both directions will temporarily share the SB lanes, leaving room to build the new Cimarron-to-Nevada NB lanes. The sharing will be somewhat of a tight squeeze, with “narrowed lanes and reduced shoulders” and a 55-mph speed limit, the CDOT release states.
       - November: Demolition of the existing I-25 bridge. This will make way for the eventual construction of the new I-25 NB bridge along with its ramps.

Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 9/9/16; Transportation: Cimarron/I-25)

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