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North I-25 sees enhancements, commissioners attend ribbon cutting

Published on December 20, 2023

A group of officials at the north I-25 Express Lanes ribbon-cutting event.

The longstanding vision to improve mobility along north I-25 is becoming a reality. Earlier this month, Weld County Commissioners Scott James and Kevin Ross joined Gov. Jared Polis and other state officials at a ribbon cutting, officially opening three improved segments of north I-25, which stretch from Berthoud to Fort Collins and cross through parts of Weld County.

Commissioner James, who spoke at the event, called the improvements vital to the traveling public in northern Colorado, saying they will assist with the efficient transportation of goods, services and products along the corridor.

“You all have yourselves to thank for funding these improvements,” James told those in attendance. “It’s so important.”

The multimodal corridor project not only includes the addition of express lanes but also the reconstruction of interchanges, bridges and multimodal hubs for transit facilities at State Highway 56 in Berthoud and Centerra in Loveland.

Construction of the improvements has been ongoing since 2018, but the desire for more efficiency along north I-25 began several years ago with support from past and present Weld County commissioners as well as municipalities throughout Weld and Larimer County.

In 2013, the North I-25 Coalition was formed as an advocacy group for north I-25 improvements and was critical in gaining local government funding as well as federal funds, which the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) used to advance the project. James, who currently serves as the chair of the North I-25 Coalition, voted to contribute $8 million to the expansion project when he was the mayor of Johnstown.

While three segments of improvements are complete on north I-25, work on segment five, located between State Highway 66 in the Mead/Longmont area and State Highway 56 in Berthoud, continues. Weld County, in partnership with CDOT, has applied for a $100 million Mega Project Discretionary Grant to help leverage funding for segment five improvements. Weld County has also committed $5 million toward the project, which is anticipated to cost $450 million.

Learn more about the north I-25 project.