DOUGLAS COUNTY — There is a major transition happening on the I-25 South Gap project between Monument and Castle Rock. "About a year ahead of schedule," said Tamara Rollison with CDOT. The new express lanes that were scheduled to open late in 2022, open the morning of December 10, 2021.
Eventually there will be a toll for using the express lanes. While work continues on the project it is free and considered a trial period.
It is free for the trial, but not a free-for-all when drivers use the lanes.
By law you get in and out of express lanes at transition points. On the 15-plus mile stretch of the South Gap, transitions are designated with small broken white lines right that link to two solid white lines. "That's where you enter the lane and that's where you exit the lanes, you do not cross the solid white lines. They are there to keep the traffic safely moving in that lane. You do not use the express lane as a passing lane,” said Rollison.
The trial period will likely last through next summer. Some of the high-tech express lane monitoring systems still have to be installed. There is also final paving work on hold until next year when it gets warmer.
