This Interstate 25 interchange is next on CDOT's list to upgrade

Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
·4 min read
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Now that renovations to Fort Collins' Interstate 25 interchanges at Prospect Road and Harmony Road are nearly complete, talks have started on renovating the Mulberry Street I-25 interchange.

That news might be bittersweet to the many motorists who have navigated construction for the North I-25 Express Lanes project for the last five years.

It might also make you wonder why the Mulberry Street/Colorado 14 and I-25 interchange wasn't done at the same time as the current project, which spans roughly 19 miles along I-25 from Fort Collins to the Berthoud exit.

Here's the answer to that question and others regarding the interchange.

What is the time frame for the Mulberry Street/Colorado 14 and I-25 interchange renovation?

Jared Fiel, Colorado Department of Transportation's Northeast Region spokesperson, said the interchange is on the agency's 10-year plan with a full build-out at an estimated $60 million.

The agency recently put the design contract out to bid as the initial phase of the renovation. The design contractor is expected to be hired by February.

"In a perfect world, once they come up with the design and the money is there, pie-in-the-sky thinking at the very earliest is at least two years before construction starts," Fiel said.

He said there currently is no funding source for construction of the project, but the agency might look at doing the renovation in phases as funding allows.

Why didn't CDOT just do the renovation work as part of the North I-25 Express Lanes project?

The $750 million express lanes project included I-25 interchanges from Colorado 56 near Berthoud to Prospect Road in Fort Collins.

It stopped short of Mulberry Street, which is a mile north of Prospect Road.

According to CDOT documents, the Mulberry Street and I-25 interchange was originally part of the North I-25 Express Lanes project "due to unconventional traffic operations, flooding issues and aging infrastructure," but was removed from the project due to funding prioritization, among other considerations.

Fiel said one of the reasons the Mulberry Street interchange wasn't included was the bridge deck was renovated around 2017, extending the life of the bridge over I-25.

"The bridges there are in relatively good shape for the near future," he said. "When we looked at what we could do with the (North I-25 express lanes) money we had, certain things had to go. Given traffic numbers drop off considerably north of Prospect, we ended the current project there."

Vehicles merge right to the southbound on-ramp at Mulberry Street/Colorado Highway 34 and Interstate 25 interchange in Fort Collins on Thursday. Plans are in the works for a major renovation of the interchange built in 1966.
Vehicles merge right to the southbound on-ramp at Mulberry Street/Colorado Highway 34 and Interstate 25 interchange in Fort Collins on Thursday. Plans are in the works for a major renovation of the interchange built in 1966.

What might a renovated Mulberry Street/I-25 interchange look like?

That will be up to alternatives the design team presents to CDOT.

Fiel said the design will:

  • Take into consideration the most efficient way to safely move the greatest number of motorists through the interchange. Various configurations will be evaluated.

  • Address flooding issues, mostly northwest of the interchange. He said heavy rains twice flooded the area this summer.

  • Address making the interchange more multimodal friendly, including to bicyclists and pedestrians.

He said the project will look at Mulberry Street from Greenfield Court, about three-quarters of a mile west of I-25, and include Mulberry's intersection with the frontage road just east of I-25.

"Fort Collins is growing that way, as is the population east of the interchange who may not live in Fort Collins but work there," Fiel said. "There also is a lot more pedestrian traffic and people jumping over barriers, making it dangerous."

The interchange was originally built in 1966 as one of the last sections of I-25 through Colorado. It was a full cloverleaf interchange with loop ramps and straight ramps in all four directions. Later, safety improvements removed the loop ramp in the southeast corner.

Other projects in the area

Fiel said CDOT will replace damaged I-25 concrete slabs from Fort Collins to Owl Canyon Road this fall and in spring 2024.

In 2019, CDOT renovated the Vine Drive bridge at I-25 just north of Fort Collins at a cost of $4.9 million.

In 2021, repairs were made to three bridges spanning Interstate 25 in northern Larimer County: at county roads 70 (Owl Canyon Road), 66 north of Wellington and 58 between Fort Collins and Wellington.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Mulberry Street and I-25 interchange is next on CDOT's list to upgrade