Great news, traveling masochists: The Park Avenue West bridge won't be fixed for a couple more weeks, and now we know why.
The elevated road into downtown Denver has been in rough shape lately, with multiple lanes closed and long back-ups every morning. The city and its contractors have been working on a high-priority maintenance job beneath the bridge.
The lane closures on Park Avenue could continue into early February, although it could finish up sooner than that, according to Heather Burke, city public works spokeswoman.
Even after Park Avenue is cleared up, work will shut down some lanes on the elevated portion of Wewatta Street that intersects with the Park Avenue bridge.
"We’re hoping to get the whole thing done by the beginning of February, but hopefully Park Avenue West will be open sooner than that," Burke said. Bad weather could disrupt that schedule, she warned.
A recent inspection of the bridge showed that work was necessary.
"Our inspectors went up there and found something that if we didn’t fix it now it could become a safety issue," she said. "Basically, there are a few bearings, which are part of the bridge, which kind of nudged their way out of place over time."
