CDOT Shortens Woodmen Rd. Closure
March 9, 2008 10:56 PM MDT

By SCOTT HARRISON
s.harrison@krdo.com

COLORADO SPRINGS - Temporary closures on Woodmen Road at Powers Boulevard in northeast Colorado Springs have been common since a construction project began last April. The latest closure will happen overnight Monday.

Woodmen will close between 9 p.m. Monday and 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, to allow workers to smooth-out the road surface under the new Powers bridge overpass. Troopers from the Colorado State Patrol and flaggers from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will help direct traffic through the construction zone. CDOT cancelled a planned closure of Woodman overnight Sunday because workers finished some bridge construction ahead of schedule.

CDOT has detours planned. Drivers eastbound on Woodmen should take Austin Bluffs Parkway south to Dublin Boulevard, then east to Powers, then north to the temporary off-ramp back to Woodmen. Westbound Woodmen drivers should turn north at the new Powers on-ramp, then take Research Parkway west to Austin Bluffs, then travel south back to Woodmen.

CDOT has reduced the speed limit in the construction zone to 40 on Powers and to 35 on Woodmen. Powers remains in a temporary traffic alignment through the zone.

Furthermore, as part of the project, the entrance to Rustic Lane remains closed. CDOT has created a new entrance west of Tutt Boulevard, in which drivers can make only right turns going in and out. Eastbound Woodmen drivers can turn around at Tutt to reach the Rustic entrance. Street signs for Rustic and Country Lane have been moved accordingly.

The Woodmen/Powers project--which CDOT calls The Link--is scheduled for completion in mid-2009. Other future plans will make Woodmen an expressway between Powers and U.S. 24, as well as build overpasses at other major intersections to improve traffic flow along the busy Powers corridor.