The $98 million remake of was more than just a long-needed construction project, said Denver City Councilman Paul Lopez.
“This was also about the neighborhood, it was about putting people to work and taking pride in what they did, ” said Lopez, who on Wednesday joined city and Colorado Department of Transportation officials along with contractors to mark the end of the U.S. 6 Bridges Design-Build Project.
Starting in February 2014, crews revamped the U.S. 6 corridor from Knox Court on the west through the bridge over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks just east of I-25.
In all, crews:
• and built six new bridges;
• Built new ramp structures to better accommodate traffic exiting and entering U.S. 6 while cutting down traffic weaving;
• Built a to connect Barnum Park North with Barnum Park South;
• Replaced facilities in Barnum Park East.
Lopez spoke while admiring the multi-purpose field at Barnum Park East. The park’s reconstruction, as well as much of the work done on U.S. 6, was performed by local people who will take great pride what they accomplished, Lopez said.
“Ten, 20, 30 years from now, they will look at this and say ‘I helped build this,’ ” he said.
The Federal Highway Administration, CDOT, city and county of Denver and the Colorado Bridge Enterprise provided funding for the project. Edward Kraemer and Sons Inc. delivered the project while Felsburg, Holt and Ullevig was the lead design consultant.
Work essentially was finished in late October, eight months ahead of schedule, said Shailen Bhatt, CDOT’s executive director.
“It was a remarkable job done by people who went to work in their community,” Bhatt said.
