The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will temporarily close 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 to allow crews to stage equipment and prepare bridge girders as part of ongoing construction work.
During this period, northbound traffic on the Frontage Road will be detoured 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, turning east at WCR 34 to Colorado Boulevard, south to WCR 32, and then west back to the Frontage Road.
In addition, I-25 near 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. This closure is necessary for crews to install new bridge girders over the roadway as part of continued 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 turn east onto Colorado Highway 66 before re-entering southbound I-25. Northbound I-25 traffic will use temporary detour 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; north- and southbound frontage road traffic must travel east to Colorado Boulevard for access.
This work is part of the 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 should expect several impacts:
– Full closure of I-25 East Frontage Road between WCR 34 and WCR 32 from August 11 through August 20.
– Full closures of both directions of I-25 under WCR 38 during overnight hours 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. A larger replacement is needed due to the widened interstate below it. The new bridge will feature an eight-foot-wide sidewalk for multimodal connections over I-25 and will be constructed in place of the existing structure after its demolition—a decision made in coordination with the Town of Mead.
“Usually, CDOT replaces a bridge directly adjacent to the old bridge, to allow the old bridge to be used during construction of the new bridge,” according to CDOT. “The demolition of the current bridge and the complete construction and roadway tie in of the new bridge will be completed while the WCR 38 east/west connection over the interstate is closed from June to December 2025.”
CDOT acknowledged that “this six-month bridge outage is a significant inconvenience for daily users.” However, they added: “Ultimately, this decision will invest money in permanent infrastructure in another area of the project and save Colorado taxpayer money.” The department said it would prioritize keeping open other key interchanges during this period.
All construction schedules are weather-dependent and subject to change.
