Two road closures are scheduled to begin the week of September 8 as part of ongoing work on the Colorado Highway 119 Safety, Mobility and Bikeway Improvements Project. The closures will affect 2nd Avenue in Niwot and the Oxford Road median between northbound and southbound CO 119/Diagonal Highway.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will close 2nd Avenue in Niwot at northbound CO 119/Diagonal Highway starting at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, September 9. This closure is necessary for crews to complete median-widening work for a future Bus Rapid Transit lane. Local access on 2nd Avenue will be maintained between Murray Street and the railroad tracks just east of the highway. The closure will remain in place for all modes of transportation until the end of 2025. Travelers are advised to use Niwot Road to access northbound CO 119/Diagonal Highway.
A second closure begins at 9 p.m. on Friday, September 12, when CDOT will temporarily close the Oxford Road median between northbound and southbound CO 119/Diagonal Highway. This closure, which affects all modes of transportation, is expected to last until mid-October. During this period, access to northbound CO 119 through the Oxford Road median will not be available.
During the Oxford Road closure, construction crews will build a raised bikeway crossing and widen the road to extend deceleration lanes. Once this phase is completed, a full closure of the adjacent 83rd Street median will follow for several weeks.
Travelers should follow posted detour routes for alternate access, including designated cyclist detours:
– Westbound travelers should continue past Oxford Road on northbound CO 119, turn left onto Airport Road median, then left onto southbound CO 119 and right to reach Oxford Road.
– Eastbound travelers and cyclists should turn right onto southbound CO 119/Diagonal Highway, left onto Niwot Road median, then left again to access northbound CO 119.
Work schedules may change based on conditions.
Traffic along Diagonal Highway between Boulder and Longmont is projected to increase by about a quarter by the year 2040. Increased traffic could lead to more congestion, delays, emissions from vehicles, and potentially more crashes.
According to CDOT, “The CO 119 Safety, Mobility and Bikeway Project is constructing safety, mobility and bikeway improvements to make traveling through the corridor safer for all modes and transit travel faster and more reliable.” The department states that “the project is designed to integrate with other active multimodal projects on the corridor to ensure community members can safely and reliably travel throughout the corridor using their mode(s) of choice.”
CDOT outlined several goals for this project: “Improve safety in the whole corridor. Maximize the number of people able to move through the corridor. Maximize intersection operational efficiency. Improve transit travel times and increase ridership. Maximize corridor-wide operational efficiency. Increase opportunities for bicycle commuting and connectivity to the bicycle and pedestrian network.”
Some planned improvements include new signage and striping at pedestrian crossings; adjusted signal timing at intersections such as Jay Road, 63rd Street, Colorado Highway 52, Niwot Road and Airport Road; construction of a commuter bikeway with connection points between northbound and southbound lanes; reconfiguration of intersections like Colorado Highway 52 for new Bus Rapid Transit stations; changes at Airport Road intended to reduce crashes; as well as various underpasses or overpasses at major intersections.
Throughout construction most operations along CO 119/Diagonal Highway will continue as usual but with occasional lane shifts or closures; lane widths may be reduced along with speed limits during certain phases.
Kraemer North America serves as general contractor for this project.
For updates or questions regarding this project contact:
– Project phone line: 720-378-8083
– Project email: [email protected]
– Project website: https://www.codot.gov/projects/co119-mobility
Residents can sign up for weekly project updates via instructions found on CDOT’s website.
