Best Project

Civil Works/Infrastructure Category

Woodmen Road Corridor Phase 1: Woodmen Road-Academy Boulevard Interchange

Colorado Springs

By the late 1990s, significant growth and new development in Colorado Springs and eastern El Paso County had transformed Woodmen Road from a gravel highway to a major east-west arterial. In particular, the Woodmen Road-Academy Boulevard intersection—the heart of a vibrant commercial center and residential neighborhood—was expected to serve more than 100,000 vehicles a day. The need to handle this level of growth with a safe, convenient transportation network led to the Woodmen Road corridor improvements.

Phase 1 focused on creating three continuous lanes in each direction from I-25 to Stinson Road and upgrading the busy Woodmen Road-Academy Boulevard intersection.

With more than 250 businesses and four residential neighborhoods near the site, design of the new interchange converted the at-grade intersection to a grade-separated, single-point urban interchange by lowering Academy Boulevard approximately 12 ft and building the Woodmen Road bridge over Academy Boulevard.

Key project elements included constructing a 66-in.-dia stormwater trunk line to Cottonwood Creek and rerouting a 42-in. steel water line serving one-third of Colorado Springs within a tight, 120-hour shutdown schedule. Crews also had to relocate multiple utilities, grade roadways and lay pavement, create detention ponds and a drainage system, and construct the complex interchange.

Key Players

Owner: City of Colorado Springs

Engineer: URS Corp., Colorado Springs

General Contractor: Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc., Castle Rock, Colo.

Submitted by Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc.