CDOT To Install 'Climbing Lane' To Ease I-25 Congestion At Berthoud Hill
BERTHOUD, Colo. (CBS4) - There will soon be relief for drivers heading to Denver from Fort Collins on Interstate 25 thanks to the Colorado Department of Transportation's plans to install a climbing lane on southbound I-25 at Berthoud Hill.
All it takes is for one semi-truck to try to pass another and both lanes get backed up on the interstate just south of the Berthoud exit. Trucks just can't climb the 2-mile long hill as fast as other vehicles.
"You come up on that stopped traffic, you're going 75, you're not expecting people to either be stopped or going 35, 45 miles an hour," said Myron Hora, CDOT Planning and Environmental Manager.
Hora said truck traffic slows the pace of the 2-mile climb, forcing faster vehicles to hit the brakes and causing serious safety issues. He said twice as many crashes happen per mile along that stretch of I-25 than on any other similar part of highway.
CDOT now says it will add what it calls a third, climbing lane, and restrict slower truck traffic to the right two lanes. The left lane will be kept clear for smaller cars and SUVs. They haven't decided yet whether they'll add pavement to the inside or outside of the current roadway.
"We hear it from everybody. As soon as we broached the idea that we want to do something with Berthoud Hill, it was applause," Hora said.
Hora called the measure a stop gap -- a temporary solution -- while CDOT considers a larger, long-term plan to expand I-25 to three lanes in both directions from Longmont to Fort Collins.
CDOT expects to both start and finish this project next year at a cost of $9.5 million.
