Only a month after the completion of T-REX highway work, the $800 million road expansion seems to be meeting commuters’ expectations.
Travel times on Interstate 25 between Broadway in Denver and Lincoln Avenue in Douglas County now average about 15 minutes during rush-hour peaks, according to a Colorado Department of Transportation analysis.
Eight years ago, when the project was being planned, average peak-hour travel on I-25 between Lincoln and Broadway took about 25 minutes.
That was “on a good day, going about 30 miles per hour,” said CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman.
Without the widening from the Transportation Expansion Project, it’s estimated that growing congestion would have boosted the Lincoln-Broadway trip to a numbing 71 minutes by 2020, the agency said.
“It’s definitely improved,” said Allen Fears, who typically commutes daily between downtown Denver and the Denver Tech Center.
“It’s the combination of more lanes open and no construction cones,” said Fears, who estimates that his door-to- door rush-hour commute now takes 20 to 25 minutes, compared with 40 to 45 minutes during T-REX construction.
“It was money well spent,” said Fears, chief financial officer for National Sports Services, a developer of minor-league sports franchises.
In another recent CDOT survey, traffic volumes on I-25 near the East Hampden Avenue interchange hit a high of 191,131 vehicles a day.
That’s about what officials recorded at that location in 1998, before the widening of the highway.
So why, after the addition of new lanes on I-25 and Interstate 225, and continuing residential and commercial growth in the south metro area, are there not more motorists using the expanded highway?
Gary Gonzales, CDOT’s traffic manager for T-REX, has a theory.
“Gas prices. That’s my guess,” he said.
On Nov. 17, RTD will start service on T-REX’s southeast light-rail line along I-25 and I-225. The train cost another $880 million on top of the highway work.
Planners expect southeast rail users to take at least 35,000 train trips daily through the corridors, siphoning some traffic from the highway.
Donna Turnbull, who works for Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Denver and lives near I-225 and South Parker Road, also has enjoyed speedier commutes since the completion of highway construction.
Sometimes she drives, and other times she takes the bus.
“I think it’s wonderful,” said Turnbull, who has seen her trip time – when she drives – shrink to about 30 minutes from 45 to 60 minutes during construction.
When the train service starts, Turnbull will have another commuting option and, she adds, “I’m looking forward to it.”
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
25 MINUTES
Average I-25 rush-hour commute in ’98 between Broadway and Lincoln Avenue
15 MINUTES
Average time on that route with the completion of T-REX, according to CDOT
