Commuters who have gritted their teeth as their vehicles crawled along I-25 where a giant sinkhole is being repaired can breathe a sigh of relief on Saturday when the work is completed.
“After that it will be like the sinkhole never happened,” said Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stacey Stegman.
The northbound lanes at the 58th Avenue exit disappeared in a torrent of water last Thursday afternoon when a 5-foot conduit ruptured opening a 40-by-40 foot sinkhole 16 feet deep.
Traffic backed up more than 10 miles and flocks of motorists fled the highway causing jams on Federal Boulevard and other streets in the area.
Highway crews reopened three northbound lanes the next evening, allowing commuters to drive around the hole as Denver Water crews cut away the broken water main and installed new pipe.
CDOT began permanent repairs to the road on Tuesday, reversing a plan to pour asphalt as a temporary fix and wait until the spring to lay down the permanent concrete.
Paving crews have worked as traffic crept past them on three open lanes.
Work, which began eight-and-a-half days ago, will be completed at 5:30 a.m on Saturday.
CDOT expects Denver Water to pay the as much as $1.5 million cost of repairing the road, Stegman said.
Thursday’s inclement weather stopped work at the site on Thursday, but the agency will be on the job tomorrow.
Commuters who use the highway after 8 p.m. Friday should be prepared for delays. Traffic flow will be reduced to one lane through the repair site and the bottleneck will remain until all four through lanes and two exit lanes reopen the next morning.
The northbound ramp to 58th Avenue will also be closed. HOV/Express Lanes will be open, but tolls will be charged for solo drivers.
CDOT is urging drives to seek alternate routes.
Tom McGhee: (303)954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
