The 50-year-old 5th Avenue on-ramp to eastbound U.S. 6 will close Tuesday night to make way for a new ramp as part of the state’s .
The new on-ramp will help complete the diamond interchange at U.S. 6 and Federal Boulevard. A traffic shift to start the permanent closure of the old ramp and usher in the new ramp begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday, with the new ramp set to open by 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Drivers on Wednesday morning looking to access eastbound U.S. 6 will make their way to the traffic signal just south of the Federal Boulevard bridge over U.S. 6, which will include a four-way interchange.
This will allow drivers to turn east at the signal and either merge onto eastbound U.S. 6 or continue to northbound or southbound I-25, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
It represents a significant change to drivers’ normal habit to access the highway.
“We’re introducing a new ramp that represents a major milestone and benefit to the project,” said Kevin Sullivan, CDOT project director. “Drivers in this area have entered eastbound U.S. 6 the same way for half a century. We’re excited to retire the old 5th Avenue ramp.”
The new on-ramp eventually will improve safety by increasing the distance between Federal Boulevard traffic merging onto U.S. 6 and U.S. traffic exiting at I-25, Sullivan said.
Those improvements will be evident after crews complete additional bridge structures and paving operations, he said.
The entire project will replace six obsolete bridges on U.S. 6 between Knox Court and I-25, improve traffic movements in the I-25 and U.S. 6 interchange and eliminate traffic weaving along U.S. 6 between Federal Boulevard and I-25.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley
