When Colorado Spring’s Interstate-25 first opened in 1960, it handled 8,500 vehicles a day. Today, more than 100,000 cars travel it daily, which is why the Colorado Springs Metro Interstate Expansion (Cosmix) project was launched.

Colorado-based CH2M Hill serves as one partner in a joint venture with SEMA Construction of Colorado. The joint venture, known as Rockrimmon Constructors, which broke ground in June 2005.

Public Information Officer Kyle Troxel notes some impressive figures: Approximately 3,485 tons of reinforced bridge steel, 140,000 tons of asphalt and 300,000 cubic yards of concrete are used to rebuild Interstate 25 through metro Colorado Springs.

I-25 is the main north-south freeway corridor through Colorado. The expansion project will widen the road to three lanes in each direction along the 12 miles from south of the Bijou interchange to south of North Academy Boulevard.

The expansion will improve the configuration of several interchanges and bridges. “When the project is complete, the community will see markedly better traffic flow,” Troxel says. “Colorado is growing, and especially Colorado Springs shows no signs of slowing down. Having three lanes in each direction will give drivers more room and reduce congestion.”

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is one of the owners of the project, and the department has outlined five goals for the COSMIX project, including to “maximize capacity and mobility improvement in the corridor, minimize inconvenience to the public during construction and provide a visually pleasing final project.”

The majority of funding for the project is provided by transportation revenue anticipation motes. However, the city of Colorado Springs committed $10 million toward the reconstruction of the Bijou Bridge and to build the connection from North Nevada Avenue to Corporate Drive.

Cosmix is one step in CDOT’s long-term plans for I-25 in the Pikes Peak region. After this project is complete, another $400 million of capacity improvements will be needed along the corridor, with the long-term goal of widening I-25 to eight lanes – four in each direction from South Academy Boulevard to North Academy Boulevard, and to six lanes from North Academy Boulevard to State Highway 105 in Monument.

Reputation in Action
Troxel notes that CH2M HILL was selected in part to manage the job because “it is a global company that has a reputation for excellence and getting things done.” Additionally, the company proposed it could complete the project sooner than CDOT required.

“The original completion date for the project was December 2008,” Troxel says. “We offered to complete the project by the end of 2007, and right now, we’re on track to do that.”

Distributing its resources and working on several parts of I-25 consecutively helped CH2M HILL, led by Rockrimmon Constructors, shorten the projected schedule and improve its visibility in the community.

“We have a 12-mile stretch of interstate that we are working on,” Troxel says. “If we approached the project north to south or south to north, we would neglect one side of the interstate.

“By distributing people throughout the project,” he continues, “we ensured that work was being done throughout the interstate at all times and that we didn’t overlook any part of the community. This approach also helped enhance the public’s perception of the project because they could see work underway throughout the community.”

Overcoming Obstacles
However, Rockrimmon Constructors still encountered a few challenges. Namely, Troxel says, alleviating business owners’ concerns that the construction would inconvenience their customers.

“We were very active in the community to alert business owners and residents about any detour routes,” Troxel says. “We provided maps and signage at our expense to make sure business continued as usual. We visited with business owners weekly, which helped them feel part of the process. Reminding the community that the project would benefit them down the road helped alleviate concerns.”

One way Rockrimmon Constructors reached out to the community was through town hall meetings. Troxel says more than 20 informal and formal public information meetings have been held since the project began in 2005.

Meetings were held either at city hall or at businesses that would be impacted by the construction. “People gave us input, and when it was possible, we made changes to address their requests,” Troxel notes.

On the Road
The Cosmix project is about 95 percent complete. The Bijou Bridge opened Oct. 1, and it will be fully complete once some clean up and landscaping are finished later in the month.

Rockrimmon Constructors will then move on to finishing the new Colorado Bridge, which is expected to be open early November.

CDOT’s vision to expand the interstate to eight lanes is part of the COSMIX design. “We built the project to be able to accommodate the four lanes in each direction when that time comes,” Troxel says. “That’s one of the great things about this project; these improvements will last years to come.”