The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has announced a temporary closure of the I-25 East Frontage Road between Weld County Roads 34 and 32, starting Monday, August 11 at 7 a.m. through Wednesday, August 20 at 5 a.m. The closure is necessary for crews to stage equipment and prepare bridge girders in the area.
During this period, northbound traffic on the Frontage Road will be rerouted east at WCR 32 to Colorado Boulevard, then north to WCR 34, before heading west back to the Frontage Road. Southbound traffic will follow a similar detour: east at WCR 34 to Colorado Boulevard, south to WCR 32, and then west back to the Frontage Road.
Additionally, I-25 east of Mead at Weld County Road 38 will be closed overnight on Monday, August 18 and Tuesday, August 19 from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., as crews install new bridge girders over the roadway as part of ongoing bridge reconstruction efforts.
For these overnight closures:
– Southbound I-25 traffic will exit at Colorado Highway 402, travel west and turn south on US Highway 287, then head east onto Colorado Highway 66 before re-entering southbound I-25.
– Northbound I-25 traffic will use temporary detour off- and on-ramps that merge with the I-25 East Frontage Road. No turning movements will be allowed on or off WCR 38 during this time.
– The I-25 East Frontage Road south of WCR 38 will also be closed. Both northbound and southbound Frontage Road traffic must travel east to Colorado Boulevard for access to I-25 and surrounding county roads.
This work is part of the broader I-25 North Express Lanes project from Mead to Berthoud. The project includes reconstructing and widening bridges along this section of highway. CDOT states that full closures are used “to increase safety for the traveling public and crews while decreasing the duration of traffic impacts.”
Motorists can expect several impacts:
– Full closure of I-25 East Frontage Road between WCR 34 and WCR 32 from August 11 through August 20.
– Overnight closures of both directions of I-25 under WCR 38 on August 18 and August 19.
– A shift in southbound I-25 lanes onto new concrete roadway between CO Highway 56 and WCR 38 beginning Monday night, August 18.
The current Weld County Road 38 bridge was built in 1960. CDOT plans to replace it with a larger structure designed to span the widened interstate; it will include an eight-foot-wide sidewalk for multimodal connections over I-25. The new bridge will be constructed “on alignment,” meaning it occupies the same position as the existing one—a decision made in coordination with the Town of Mead. Normally, CDOT builds replacement bridges adjacent to old ones so that crossings remain open during construction; however, this project requires closing the connection from June through December while demolition and construction are completed.
“CDOT is aware this six-month bridge outage is a significant inconvenience for daily users,” officials stated in their announcement. “Ultimately, this decision will invest money in permanent infrastructure in another area of the project and save Colorado taxpayer money.” They added that keeping open access at Weld County Road 34 interchange during construction remains a priority.
All construction schedules depend on weather conditions and may change.
