Construction on I-25 is ramping up for the summer, and both drivers and residents should prepare for some significant disruptions. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is underway with the I-25 North Express Lanes Project, stretching from Mead to Berthoud, which is about halfway done, aiming for the finish line in 2025.
The aging infrastructure along this corridor is getting a much-needed facelift with a 70-year-old bridge and other outdated elements being replaced. While CDOT has made good progress, completing 20 miles of improvements, the next steps involve major operations that include the demolition and reconstruction of bridges at Weld County Road 38 and Weld County Road 34, according to CDOT.
Movement around the construction zone might get tricky, as the WCR 38 bridge, which dates back to 1960, is set to be entirely reconstructed. This specific location will see closure from June through December 2025. CDOT chose to build the new bridge right where the old one stands to avoid multiple costly relocations of utilities and to prepare for a potential new interchange that's currently under review.
This summer, I-25 will be shut down overnight on June 23 and 24 to demolish the WCR 38 bridge. Traffic will be rerouted through state and U.S. highways, and signal timings at Colorado Highway 66 will be adjusted to better accommodate the increase in traffic. The Weld County Road 34 bridge will also see significant changes with new roundabouts and expanded multimodal paths that include bike lanes and sidewalks. CDOT is coordinating with local projects, like the High Plains Boulevard Project and Little Thompson waterline projects, to minimize disruption.
As part of the expansion, I-25's southbound lanes will widen substantially, and a climbing lane from Colorado Highway 56 to WCR 38 is set to remain in place to aid slower-moving vehicles. Once the southbound section is finished, northbound I-25 traffic will switch to the southbound lanes in winter 2025, so the northbound section can be updated the following year. This construction work is essential to accommodate the roughly 90,000 vehicles that pass through daily. It's also been noted that since construction began, the crash rate along I-25 has dropped by over 50%, compared to the five years before 2018.
