Dry Creek Bridge project to wrap in June

Reconstruction of the bridge over Dry Creek on U.S. Highway 287 at Meadow Lane north of Fort Collins has moved into a new phase, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Although traffic will still be delayed and realigned during daylight hours through May, flood prevention work has been completed and crews are now building the new bridge. Installing large culverts under the existing roadway lowered the floodplain along Dry Creek by three feet. Project Engineer Lou Keen said repaving should start later this spring and the entire project completed in June.

The $1.8 million bridge replacement is part of a long-planned effort to widen U.S. 287 to four lanes between Colorado Highway 1 and the LaPorte Bypass. Final plans for the $15 million widening, which were approved by CDOT in June 2006, include a center turn lane, bike lanes and sidewalks with utilities buried underneath.

The widening will affect six parcels of land and require relocation of three commercial and 16 residential properties. The three businesses are Kathy’s Furniture, Suburban Propane and North 287 Self Storage. Several of the residences are trailers in the Blue Spruce Mobile Home Park.

But no one should start packing to move anytime soon. CDOT spokeswoman Ashley Mohr said in February that the widening is “on hold indefinitely” because no funding has been made available by the state Legislature.

“We are working with landowners to purchase rights-of-way so we can resume the project when funds do become available, but we don’t have a timeline for that right now,” she said.

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