Union Pacific Railroad has signed off on the final design for a major new rail bridge over Interstate 70, ending a long-running dispute that has delayed the Denver highway expansion project by several months.
The railroad’s approval, received late Friday, will allow construction to begin soon on the new bridge, said Keith Stefanik, the Central 70 project director. Trains already are using temporary “shoo-fly” bridges, and demolition on the old bridge began recently.
State regulatory approval is still needed, but that isn’t expected to take long.“We appreciate the time and effort UP put into it to get where we are today,” Stefanik said, citing the railroad’s recent efforts to speed up approval.
He says CDOT and the contractors still are looking for ways to save time.
A monthly report filed last week by the Kiewit-Meridiam Partners, the contracting team on the $1.2 billion project, showed little change in delay projections that put substantial completion in December 2022. That would be nine months later than originally scheduled, and three months later than the projected finish under a revised schedule approved by CDOT in May.
