The Colorado Department of Transportation reopened the bridge over Interstate 70 to on Friday after construction delays caused anger and frustration among residents and business owners of the town.
Clear Creek County Commissioner Tim Mauck said he’s not sure how much the Colorado 103 bridge shutdown hurt local businesses. But, he said, it’s clear the construction controversy caused reputations to take a hit.
“The larger impact overall is to our credibility,” Mauck said. “My credibility and the other county commissioners’ was hurt, CDOT’s credibility was hurt, the contractor’s was hurt. From here on out, we just have to manage our expectations much better about work on I-70.”
Work began on the bridge in October and was scheduled to take six weeks. A month in, the work was halted because crews found naturally occurring contaminated groundwater during bridge excavation.
Crews worked to “de water” the area. Business owners complained the delay drastically hurt them during the holidays because eastbound I-70 motorists use Exit 240 at the bridge to get to downtown.
Crews have been working day and night to complete final tasks like leveling the approaches between the bridge and roadways, grading, paving and striping, said CDOT region director Tony DeVito.
“We thank the town of Idaho Springs and the residents of Clear Creek County for being as patient as possible while we rebuilt the bridge,” DeVito said. “It certainly takes a true partnership with the local community to be successful during construction.”
