Construction Underway!

29 Road and I-70B Interchange is a key component in the transformation of the 29 Road corridor into a major link in the Riverside Parkway transportation network. This project will construct a viaduct to extend 29 Road over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and I-70B. This overpass is part of the 29 Road corridor improvements that will eventually connect Highway 50 with Interstate 70. The project is being jointly funded by the City of Grand Junction and Mesa County.

The project will construct 4,800 feet of 29 Road extending from D Road to North Avenue and will include a connection to provide access between I-70B and 29 Road. The mainline viaduct that will span the UPRR tracks and I-70B will be approximately 800 feet long (about the same length as the 29 Road bridge over the Colorado river).

The 29 Road street section will be 5-lanes wide (4 travel lanes and a center turn lane), and will include bike lanes and attached concrete sidewalks.




Current Status - The City of Grand Junction and Mesa County have applied for Federal Stimulus dollars as well as Energy Impact Severance tax dollars to help fund the project. Decisions on both of these funding sources are to be announced in February 2010. If successful in obtaining these dollars, construction would begin shortly there after.

Construction phasing - Early in 2009 the anticipated schedule for the 29 Road and I-70B Interchange project was to begin construction in the summer of 2009, allow 18 months for construction, and thereby complete construction of the project by the end of 2010. In early April of 2009 it became clear there would be a delay in obtaining the authorization to construct the bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

In light of this, a decision was made to separate the Interchange project into three bid packages called the North Phase, South Phase and the Interchange Phase. The North and South phases will be built concurrently from July through spring 2010 . The goal is now to get the Interchange Phase under construction in early part of 2010, with the construction duration of 12 months. In this manner, the anticipated completion date for the entire Interchange project remains the middle of 2011.

Other benefits of constructing the project in three phases include:

• Takes advantage of the current favorable bidding environment
• Smaller bid packages allowed for more local contractors to become potential bidders
• Minimizes disruption to the public and adjacent property owners. The streets constructed in the early phases will serve as detour routes during the Interchange phase.

The North Phase - was awarded to Sorter Construction for $1,349,423. They have constructed sections of Teller Avenue, Melody Lane, Sparn Street, Gunnison Avenue, and the I-70B Frontage Road just north of I-70B and west of 29 Road.  The project consists of 4,400 feet of roadway construction, 1,330 feet of storm drain pipe installation, and 2,085 feet of irrigation pipe installation. Construction began on July 6 and completion of the North Phase is expected in spring 2010.

The South Phase - The contract for the South Phase was awarded to United Companies for $1,815,206. They are constructing the portion of 29 Road from D Road to D ½ Road, along with a realigned section of  D ½ Road just east of 29 Road. This project consists of 3,550 feet of roadway construction, 2,100 feet of storm drain pipe installation, and 1,910 feet of irrigation pipe installation. Construction began on July 6 and completion of the North Phase is expected in spring 2010.

This page updated Wednesday, January 13, 2010