by Public Information
comments open from April 16 until May 5

Now into April, the West Corridor is seeing milestones being met and construction hitting its highest peak since June 2009.

Sixth Avenue Bridge Roll-Out
The West Corridor “signature bridge” will be rolled across 6th Avenue the weekend of Friday, April 23, through Sunday, April 25. This activity will require the complete shutdown of 6th Avenue between Simms/Union and Kipling. The frontage road between Simms/Union and Quail Street will also be shut down through the weekend.

The eastbound on-ramp from Simms/Union will shut down at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 23. One eastbound lane will close at 8:00 p.m. and by 10:00 p.m. all lanes of traffic, both eastbound and westbound, will be closed. By midnight, on Saturday, April 24, the frontage road will close, eliminating all traffic through the construction zone.

Early Saturday morning, April 24, the bridge should begin rolling across the highway. It could take as long as 30 hours to completely maneuver across all lanes of traffic. Once the bridge is anchored to the existing structure on the north side, crews will demobilize and reopen 6th Avenue and the frontage road by 5:30 a.m. Monday, April 26.

Due to the unique nature of this event, the West Corridor Public Information team will be hosting a viewing area on Saturday, April 24, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. in the parking lot located on the northeast corner of Quail and the north 6th Avenue Frontage Road. Community members are invited to stop by to observe this historic event. The easiest access to this location is from Quail Street via Simms/8th Avenue or Colfax.

Current and Ongoing Activities in Area 1 (Jeffco Government Center to Denver Federal Center): Construction is moving quickly on the Jeffco campus.
>> Crews have closed the bike path just south of the complex.
>> Excavation for the large retaining wall north of the bike path has begun and outbound traffic is being detoured to Jefferson County Parkway.
>> Crews have closed the furthest south parking lots and the temporary parking lot on the south side is available for overflow parking.
>> Construction will continue for several months and will include retaining wall construction, a new parking structure, underground utility relocations and the Jeffco Govt. Center light rail station.
>> Wall construction along the east and west sides of Ulysses has begun, requiring the continued closure of Ulysses from 6th Avenue north to Mt. Vernon Road.
>> A full closure of 6th Avenue at Indiana is scheduled in late spring to set the steel girders that will cover the gap over 6th Avenue and Indiana. Prior notification of this closure will be posted for traveling motorists and email notification will be sent to local residents and businesses.

Upcoming Activities
In the coming months, West Corridor crews will begin work on the relocation of the off ramp from 6th Avenue to Colfax.
>> The ramp will move to the west, under the light rail bridge over Colfax.
>> Crews will move into 6th Avenue to set the median caisson for the CDOT sign bridge in early May. This activity will require approximately 10 days of lane closures on eastbound 6th Avenue. Again, prior notification will be provided before these lane closures go into effect.

To get the latest information on construction and road closures, connect to the West Corridor Web site.

Information contained in this post adapted from the FasTracks newsletter.