Denver-AP) -- The flood that shut down Interstate 25 last week
isn't going to put the massive T-REX traffic project behind
schedule.
Muddy runoff from a 30-minute downpour left waist-deep water on
I-25 south of downtown Friday afternoon. The flood stranded
vehicles and blocking the freeway for four hours.
Project spokeswoman Karen Morales says despite the chaos, the
flood did only minimal damage to the 1-point-67 billion dollar
project.
She says drainage improvements included in the project should
prevent a repeat of the floods, but officials won't take any
interim steps to avoid another flood.
The section of highway that flooded is in a former river bed and
has been swamped repeatedly since the mid-1950s.
Morales says the new drainage system will have a 13-foot
diameter pipe that will handle much bigger downpours than the
current 42-inch pipe.
She says construction crews had placed hay bales and plastic
fencing in work areas to limit erosion onto the highway, but they
could not stop the deluge.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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