I was in Denver this weekend for the big IMTA map convention, and took a lot of photos of I-25, I-70, and I-225. I-25 and I-225 were under construction for many years as part of a rebuilding process called T-Rex. The project involved adding lanes, bridges, and two rail lines along the interstate corridors. The end result is impressive.
Through Arapahoe County, I-25 is an unrelenting 10 lanes with a rail line on the west side. The lane count goes down to 8 after I-225 and eventually to 6 on the un-reconstructed portion of the road near downtown. It reminded me of I-5 losing lanes headed northbound into Norwalk and downtown Los Angeles.
I-25 further north into Denver, is a mass of concrete that really blots everything else out. The bridges are “signature” and have the names of the streets on them as you pass underneath. The sound walls alternate between visions of Bison and Lasso, and mountains.
Denver’s Skyline from I-25… the skyline is huge, almost as big as Dallas, Atlanta, or Seattle – but very architecturally uninspired. In fact the skyline is one of the most boring large city skylines I’ve seen in the United States. There are some new condo towers under construction, and a great new addition to their art museum is on the way – though.
On to I-225 – the T-Rex reconstruction project rebuilt the southern few miles of the interstate, and it’s very nice. There are medium-height suburban office blocks all around, and a rail line in the center.
That abruptly ends as you head into the suburb of Aurora headed north, the road goes down to 4 lanes and becomes a traffic nightmare. Even now, at 2pm on a Tuesday. I’m glad I was not around at 5!
AARoads has Denver well covered, here, and it will continue to be updated in the future.
