A project to enhance traffic flow and lower crashes on an eight-mile section of Interstate 70 in Colorado will soon start construction. According to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), work on the I-70 Floyd Hill Project, which will promote safety and improve mobility from west of Evergreen to eastern Idaho Springs, will start in late June.
According to CDOT, the project garnered $700 million in state and federal financing and is a part of the 10-year infrastructure plan of Gov. Jared Polis’s (D) administration.
Details on the Colorado Interstate 70 road improvement project
According to CDOT, the project will achieve the following goals.
In this two-lane jam, add a third westbound I-70 travel lane. From immediately west of Homestead Road (Exit 247) via the Veterans Memorial Tunnels to Colorado Blvd./Idaho Springs (Exit 241), this new lane will be a full-time, tolled Express Lane.
Rebuild bridges that have seen a lot of use, wear, and tear. Improve emergency response by building the two-mile frontage road that is lacking between U.S. 6 and the Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway interchanges.
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Additionally, it will construct a longer on-ramp from US 6 to I-70 in the east so that slower-moving vehicles have more space to combine. Streamline access and traffic flow at intersections and interchanges. Curves on roads were made straighter to increase visibility and safety.
Enhance the trail along Clear Creek. Implement environmental mitigation to improve stream conditions, recreation, air and water quality, and animal connection. Set up two continuous air quality sensors.
On the four-mile section between County Road 65 and the base of Floyd Hill, rock scaling and blasting will be done as part of the project’s first phase. Starting in late July or early August, drivers can plan on 20-minute delays in both directions on I-70 during the day.
Drivers could expect delays of up to 45 minutes as crews blast and scale rocks for 20 minutes before reopening the route. Until the beginning of 2024, blasting will take place twice every week.
