Copyright KRDO
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — A nearly 50-year-old bridge will close on Monday as crews begin a repair project that isn't scheduled for completion until early April. The Mel Harmon Bridge is slightly east of the Interstate 25/US 50/Highway 47 interchange; a ramp (Mel Harmon Drive) connects to the four-lane bridge that crosses the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Hart Road (a route to the nearby Pueblo Mall) and intersects with the I-25 Frontage Road. Workers will improve the bridge structure, resurface the lanes, and make safety upgrades. The city asks drivers to detour around the closure by accessing Frontage Road from its south end at 29th Street. Frontage Road has two restaurants and a hotel north of the bridge, with several furniture stores and other home-related businesses on the south end. Two former restaurants on the south end — Denny's and KFC — closed years ago and have been boarded up ever since. The nearest business to the bridge is 3 Margarita's, a Mexican restaurant purchased by new owner Ricardo Alvarado. "We're struggling right now to put it in a good place," he said. "The restaurant is not bad. They get some good sales. So, that's why we decided to buy. But I think if those guys close the bridge, it's going to be hard to bring (customers in)." The bridge closure detour could considerably increase traffic congestion on northbound I-25 at the 29th Street interchange, which many drivers also use to get around the bridge closure at the next interchange to the south, where the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is replacing five bridges. Pueblo is funding the bridge project with its own money and several CDOT grants. The bridge was named for noted community leader Mel Harmon and was built in 1976.
