Denver officials celebrated completion of the Central Park Boulevard Interchange project this morning, a $50 million venture that includes a new bridge over Interstate 70 linking the Stapleton area with the Northfield shopping complex on the north side of I-70.
The bridge includes six lanes of traffic and 12-foot-wide sidewalks for pedestrians and bicycle riders.
The span and its related ramps are expected to open for traffic by Monday, said Roger Mutz, supervisor of capital projects for Denver’s public works department.
Central Park Boulevard is a major north-south road through the redeveloped Stapleton residential community.
Until the spring, when the final segment of Central Park south of East 40th Avenue is to be completed, traffic heading south from Northfield over the bridge will be diverted east to Havana Street, Mutz said.
Officials say the Central Park interchange should provide much better access to Northfield retailers and other destinations in the area, including venues in nearby Commerce City.
The interchange was funded with $30 million in local money from the Better Denver Bond Program that Denver voters approved in 2007, and about $20 million in federal funds, including $12 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus money.
The new Central Park Boulevard Interchange will serve an estimated 18,000 daily drivers, and nearly double that amount by 2035. According to Federal Highway Administration estimates, 228,000 daily drivers rely on I-70, a figure estimated to climb to 330,000 over the same period, federal officials said in a statement on the completion of the interchange project.
