A much-delayed that ignited criticism from Idaho Springs residents and business owners is now slated to be finished the week of Jan. 26.
Crews will do abutment work and girder setting on the new bridge over Interstate 70 at Exit 240 starting this Saturday. The work will require reducing I-70 at Exit 240 to one lane in each direction and redirecting traffic by using the on-and-off ramps.
The one-lane detour is scheduled through Jan. 14.
“We are doing everything we can to complete this critical work this weekend, prior to historically heavy travel times on the weekend prior to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day,” said Tony DeVito, Colorado Department of Transportation Regional Transportation Director.
CDOT’s goal is to open the bridge during the week of Jan. 26. In the meantime, DeVito said, motorists can use exit 240 when traveling westbound or Exit 239 when traveling eastbound on I-70 to access Idaho Springs’ historic downtown.
The new bridge was originally to be finished by early December and in time to funnel eastbound highway traffic into downtown Idaho Springs for the Christmas season.
But construction was stopped when crews with contractor Mountain Corridor Constructors discovered contaminated groundwater during bridge excavation, setting the project back for mitigation.
CDOT set a new deadline of Jan. 12 to finish the bridge but several factors — including weather, problems getting the needed equipment and traffic — pushed the project back again, said CDOT spokeswoman Emily Wilfong.
Clear Creek County Commissioner Tim Mauck said some businesses did well during the holidays while others were clearly hurt by the bridge shutdown.
One restaurant lost $65,000 — other 10 percent of its yearly gross sales — because of the bridge woes. “But other businesses did fairly well, it kind of depended on its cliental, where it was located and other factors,” Mauck said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley
