I-25 South 'Gap' between Monument, Castle Rock complete

Breeanna Jent, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
·3 min read

Dec. 21—Four years after breaking ground, the Interstate 25 South "Gap" project running 18 miles between Monument and Castle Rock is now complete, officials with the Colorado Department of Transportation and contractor Kraemer North America announced this week.

By the end of November crews had completed all major construction on the $419 million project that widened the highway, added express lanes in each direction and improved safety, according to a news release.

The "Gap's" final completion comes a year after transportation officials opened the newly configured lanes to traffic, including one express lane in each direction. In the last year, construction crews have completed paving, lane striping, installed deer guards and guardrail, and finished landscaping as part of the project.

"Communities spanning Denver to Colorado Springs will now have access to a fully complete and improved 18-mile stretch of I-25, which will continue to boost economic growth in these areas," project officials said in the release.

Tolls to use the express lanes aren't expected to go into effect until late spring.

A state board is supposed to set the toll rate, which officials expect to be one of the lowest in the state. A nearly 500-page study commissioned by the agency's High Performance Transportation Enterprise recommended in 2017 a rate of 15 cents per mile, or about $2.25 per one-way trip.

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Officials are testing new toll technology along the corridor, Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Tamara Rollison has said.

"We've installed the equipment — that can be a complicated process — and we need to make sure it's working as designed," Rollison previously said.

Tolls on the third lane being added in each direction have been a sore point with some local residents and officials, who objected to what they claimed amounted to double taxation, since local taxes helped fund the project.

Construction on the "Gap" began in September 2018 and was funded by El Paso and Douglas counties, the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority and a federal grant.

Officials said this week the project was completed on time and on budget. The final cost ballooned from an original $350 million to $419 million in 2019 after officials added the reconstruction of the aging County Line Road bridge to the list of improvements.

In total, the project rebuilt five bridges, built four new wildlife crossings to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions, and added a southbound I-25 truck climbing lane from Greenland Road over Monument Hill and a chain up station in Larkspur. Crews also added a lane on northbound I-25 over Monument Hill and eliminated the left merge lane at Colorado 105, and modernized technology along the corridor, officials said.

There will be intermittent ramp, shoulder and express lane closures along the 18-mile stretch of interstate in 2023 as crews complete final landscaping, guardrail and express lane testing, the release said.