Light rail work to close stretch of Sheridan next weekend
LAKEWOOD – Work to relocate a water line in the path of FasTracks’ West Corridor light rail will force the complete closure of a four-block stretch of heavily traveled Sheridan Boulevard next weekend, if winter weather doesn’t intervene.
“We realize that this will be a tremendous inconvenience to the traveling public and we will do everything we can to complete construction in this area as quickly as possible,” according to a closure notice issued Wednesday by a spokeswoman for the Denver Transit Construction Group.
DTCG is an umbrella coalition of West Corridor light-rail line contractors.
Traffic will be detoured from Sheridan between West 14th and West 10th avenues for the weekend work, which involves relocating a water line on the Sheridan Boulevard bridge.
The current two lanes of the heavily traveled boulevard in that area will close at 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, and will not reopen until about 5:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 10. But, as with all FasTracks work, the planned closure could be delayed by bad weather conditions, according to the DTCG spokeswoman.
Sheridan traffic in the FastTracks work area was reduced from four lanes to two earlier this year to accommodate on-going construction along the light rail right-of-way.
The closure notice suggests drivers avoid the construction area next weekend by traveling Federal Boulevard or Wadsworth Boulevard.
The 12.1-mile West Corridor light rail project is RTD’s first FasTracks project under construction. The line will link Union Station in downtown Denver with Lakewood, the Jeffco government complex in Golden and the Federal Center. It is expected to be in operation by 2013.
FasTracks is a 12-year program to expand rail and bus service throughout the Regional Transportation District’s eight-county service area. The FasTracks program, scheduled for completion in 2017, is expected to provide six new rail corridors, extend three existing corridors, build 122 miles of commuter and light rail track, add 18 miles of bus rapid transit service and 21,000 new parking spaces, redevelop Denver Union Station and expand other bus service.
