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Glenwood pedestrian bridge to reopen for weekend

John Gardner
Glenwood Springs correspondent
Aspen, CO Colorado

GLENWOOD SPRINGS – Assistant City Engineer Steve Vanderleest expects the new Devereux Road pedestrian bridge, which spans Interstate 70 and connects West Glenwood Springs to Two Rivers Park, to be open for use in time for Memorial Day weekend.

“Really, all the work is done,” he said. “We’ll have it open to the public by the end of the day Friday.”

With the second phase of the Grand Avenue paving project complete and the Grand Avenue pedestrian bridge now open to the public, the city should be prepared to accommodate the crowds of tourists that are expected to overrun the city for the summer season, which begins this holiday weekend.



“It went pretty smoothly,” Vanderleest said about the Devereux Road pedestrian bridge project.

Despite some delays due to some adverse weather that pushed back the pouring of the concrete deck, the project is still on schedule, he said.




“Gould [Construction] did a good job,” Vanderleest said. “It’s still on time; I think June 1 was the date to be completed, and they were right on.”

Vanderleest said the Devereux pedestrian bridge was not yet open because there is some minor work that needs to be finished up by the week’s end.

“It’s still a construction area,” he said.

Crews are wrapping up the project and completing some landscaping, Vanderleest said.

Crews had to postpone pouring the concrete deck twice in early April due to adverse weather, including cooler-than-ideal temperatures, which prolonged the work.

The project was paid for in part through two transportation grants totaling $300,000, which the city received in 2005 and 2008. In 2009, the city received another $300,000 transportation enhancement grant and $50,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds though the Colorado Department of Transportation. The total cost for the project was reported at $1.2 million.

Work on the Grand Avenue pedestrian bridge is far enough along to allow people to cross from downtown to the area just north of I-70 and the Colorado River. However, some work remains on the underside of the bridge, Vanderleest said.

“It’s open, but we are leaving the containment structure underneath the bridge in place until July,” he said.

The containment structure will remain in place to allow crews to install some electrical conduit and to prepare the bridge for installation of a heat transfer system that will melt ice from the bridge during the winter months. While the preliminary work is being done on the heat transfer system, no immediate plans have been made to complete the heating system at this time.

Pipes were installed in the concrete deck and will ultimately be filled with a fluid heated by used water from the Hot Springs Pool, Vanderleest said.

“The entire bridge will be ready for the heating system when that goes forward,” he said.

The Grand Avenue pedestrian bridge work was completed by Flatiron Construction out of Longmont and cost a reported $580,000.

jgardner@postindependent.com