DENVER — A traffic nightmare for thousands of drivers in Douglas County will soon come to an end as crews are expected to finish demolition of the Santa Fe bridge over C-470 two days ahead of schedule.
The full closure along the busy intersection began Friday evening and was expected to last through the early hours of Thursday. On Monday, however, Douglas County officials told Denver7 Traffic Expert Jayson Luber that crews were ahead of schedule and were planning on reopening the C-470/Santa Fe interchange sometime Tuesday morning.
In announcing the reopening of the interchange, Douglas County officials said drivers heeding the detours and using alternate routes that were in place for the demolition project, “allowed us to shave off 12 hours of truck-haul time,” adding crews had completed bridge demolition and were clearing the last of the demolished debris from the roadway.
The closure along C-470, which sees just under 100,000 vehicles every single day, per the latest figures from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), is part of the Santa Fe bridge replacement project – which itself is part of the larger Santa Fe Corridor Project that started in October of 2022 and won’t be complete until the fall of 2025.
Once complete, not only will Santa Fe Dr. be wider to handle the increasing traffic along the corridor, but the area will see bus stop enhancements, a new shared-use path for bicyclists and pedestrians on the east of Santa Fe, a below-grade crossing for the C-470 and High Line Canal trails at Santa Fe, and a new pedestrian link from the Wolhurst community to the C-470 Trail. New auxiliary lanes, asphalt paving, raised medians, new curb and gutter, and a new closed storm sewer system with water quality ponds are also coming as part of the project.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story stated that the reopening would happen at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, but Douglas County officials said they did not know an exact time of when the interchange would reopen.
