After Delay, CDOT Crews Finally Demolish Old Bridge At Federal & 6th
DENVER (CBS4) - Both directions on 6th Avenue were closed this weekend at Federal Boulevard for the demolition of the old bridge.
The Colorado Department of Transportation says a benefit of removing the old Federal bridge is the removal of the support pillars, and that means more room for commuters and snowplow drivers.
The new Federal bridge opened in October, but the work to remove the old 1950s bridge had to be pushed back as record breaking cold in November sidelined construction crews.
"So what we had to do is wait for another sweet spot to do this work -- no Broncos weekend and good weather," CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford said.
CDOT is also trying to eliminate a pinch point. Westbound U.S. 6 was closed at Federal, while eastbound was closed at Sheridan Boulevard. The northbound and southbound Interstate 25 ramps to westbound 6 were closed to prevent backups. A revamping of the ramps should make for better traffic flow.
"What you are going to see is acceleration, deceleration lanes; so really what it does it gives you a lot more room to get up to speed before you actually have to merge onto the road, and it really ostensibly gives you an extra lane to travel in," Ford said.
The bridge work is scheduled to be finished by 5 a.m. Monday.
The demolition marks roughly the halfway point in CDOT's $98 million plan to modernize U.S. 6 and I-25.
