LOUISVILLE — The final touches on the construction of a diverging diamond interchange at U.S. 36 and McCaslin Boulevard starts Wednesday night with a closure.
Crews will permanently close the existing loop ramp from southbound McCaslin Boulevard in Louisville to eastbound U.S. 36. The work starts at 9 p.m.
Shutting down the ramp is necessary to build the new eastbound U.S. 36 Regional Transportation District bus ramp, which will mirror the nearly completed bus ramp on westbound U.S. 36 at McCaslin, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
It’s all part of the phased construction of the diverging diamond interchange — or . During this newest phase, McCaslin traffic will yield at a temporary traffic light to make a left turn onto eastbound U.S. 36 on-ramp.
When the finished interchange opens at McCaslin later this year, free-flowing turns will be in place, eliminating the need to stop before turning left and improving traffic flow and capacity at the busy interchange, CDOT says.
A DDI is a type of interchange in which the two directions of traffic on the non-freeway road cross to the opposite side on both sides of the bridge at the freeway.
Officials say it is unusual because it requires traffic on the freeway overpass to briefly drive on the opposite side of the road from what is customary.
The McCaslin DDI will be the third DDI in the state — following one in Grand Junction that opened last year and one in Colorado Springs that will open in mid-2015, according to CDOT.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley
