Just when you thought it was finished; CDOT still finalizing upgrades on I-25 project between Colorado Springs, Fountain
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A 7.5-mile improvement project on Interstate 25 between South Academy Boulevard and Santa Fe Avenue was supposed to be finished last fall, but KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior has learned that crews are still finalizing that work.
The Road Warrior reported last October that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) project to replace aging asphalt with concrete and replace the twin overpasses at South Academy was undergoing a final inspection before CDOT approved the work by its contractor, SEMA Construction.
However, repairs needed to some of the completed construction required overnight closures on southbound I-25 in the project area on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with similar closures scheduled for the northbound lanes Monday and Tuesday.
CDOT spokeswoman Amber Shipley said that CDOT wanted to see how the construction held up after last winter and into this summer to get a true understanding of what fixes are needed.
“It’s fairly typical,” she explained. “When you’re talking about concrete curing during different times of the year, where there could have been a subtle shift in the ground underneath that caused cracking. They want to make sure that those are repaired before, again, we sign off on a project of that magnitude.”
Shipley said that CDOT’s inspection found some of the concrete panels comprising the new pavement have either cracked or separated, and that several segments of new guardrail are damaged by vehicle impacts and need replacement.
“It’s a continual repair cycle for our maintenance crews,” she said. “And before we turn it over to our maintenance crews, we want to make sure that it’s solid. That’s kind of a continual thing because people are, you know, inattentive, maybe going too fast, and a crash occurs.”
During the weekend overnight closures, crews were tapping concrete panels with metal rods to test the panels’ stability and using a pressure hose to spray debris out of panels.
One crew even had a power saw, apparently to cut off damaged parts of concrete, which created a cloud of dust when it was used.
The detours for the remaining northbound closures are the same that drivers used frequently since the project began in spring 2022: Highway 85/87 via South Academy or Santa Fe.
Previous estimates indicated that the cost of the I-25 work would be half of the $161 million funded for a quartet of projects under the Military Access, Mobility and Safety Improvements Project (MAMSIP) to improve traffic flow and safety in and around local military installations.
The only other unfinished MAMSIP project is the widening of 1.5 miles of South Academy between I-25 and Milton E. Proby Parkway; that work is scheduled for completion early next year.