Aurora, Colo -- It’s been the scene of several deadly crossover crashes in past years: Interstate 225 between Mississippi and Parker Road in Aurora. But the Colorado Department of Transportation is finishing a project to make those accidents a thing of the past.

Crossover crashes happen when a vehicle traveling on a highway crosses over the open median and collides with oncoming traffic. They are typically some of the most deadly crashes. In July, a 21-year-old woman was killed in a crossover accident on I-225 near Yale just before the current project started.

CDOT has been installing a four-strand cable barrier system on many metro area highways and are just about done with the three-mile stretch on I-225 in Aurora.

“It’s designed to deflect about 6 to 8 feet when it’s hit. It’s a much more forgiving system then the rigid steel guardrail systems and it’s been shown to prevent injury accidents for the vehicles that hit it,” said CDOT region 6 project engineer Steve Hersey.

When designed and maintained properly, the cables should prevent 100 percent of all crossover crashes, though occasionally a very small car can slide under the barrier. The main problem with the cable rail is it needs to be maintained quickly after being hit. One person can repair any damage in about an hour after an accident.

Hersey said it’s rewarding to see the barriers get knocked down because that means they are working. “We have a systematic approach of looking at accident patterns along all these roads and with the limited safety funds that we have, we’ve tried to identify the high accident locations and focus our limited dollars on those,” he said.

As a part of the safety project on I-225 a concrete median barrier was installed on Parker Road between Chambers and Belleview. Parker Road has seen several fatal crossover accidents in recent years.

Hersey said, “The next step is, as safety dollars continue to come in, is to try to be even more proactive and try to hit some of the locations that maybe don’t already have accident patterns but may show them in the future.”

The project cost a total of $1.7 million to complete. The cable will be finished by the end of September.