Warning, motorists: Union Boulevard at Austin Bluffs Parkway will be closed tonight for construction work.Construction crews this weekend began hoisting large concrete girders atop piers recently built at the intersection, one of the city’s busiest. The girders will form the backbone of a bridge that will carry Austin Bluffs traffic over Union.Crews began placing the girders directly over Union on Tuesday, forcing the 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. closures that night and tonight, project manager Mike Chaves said.Those traveling on Union Boulevard during the closure will be detoured to Academy Boulevard if they’re heading north and to Nevada Avenue if they’re traveling south.Austin Bluffs will remain open, but east- and westbound travel will be reduced to one lane, and there will be no left turns allowed at the intersection. Right turns onto Union will be allowed.Still, Chaves urged motorists to avoid the intersection because there could be substantial delays as two large cranes position the girders.Since work began Sunday, crews have placed eight of the 24 massive girders, each weighing 80 to 119 tons. The work is on schedule and should be completed by Saturday, Chaves said.Workers will then start “splicing” the girders together with concrete and let them cure for 28 days, Chaves said. The roadway can then be constructed atop the girders.

Chaves said the Austin Bluffs bridge is scheduled to be opened by August or September and the project completed by November.The intersection, which handles about 100,000 cars a day, is one of the most congested in town and traditionally has had a high crash rate.Chaves said the interchange is designed to handle the growth of traffic through 2025. He said taking Austin Bluffs over Union will keep that traffic flowing and dramatically decrease the time motorists on Union will have to wait for lights. There also will be two left-turn lanes from Union onto Austin Bluffs onramps, reducing what has traditionally been a long wait for those motorists during rush hour.The $35.8 million project was approved by voters in 2004, when they passed a one-cent sales tax to fund the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority.

Bekime “Becky” Elshani, 22, has been missing since early Saturday, March 29, 2008. Her boyfriend, Daniel Dereere, 25, killed himself Monday night as police went to the couple’s apartment to check on her welfare. Photo by