With summer quickly approaching, construction activity will start to heat up along the I-70 mountain corridor between the Veteran’s Memorial Tunnels in Idaho Springs and the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels at the Continental Divide. In fact, you might notice work starting this week on the Fall River Road Bridge that will connect Stanley Road to Fall River Road at Exit 238.
This is just one of several mountain corridor improvements, however, with the biggest undertaking – the Westbound Peak Period Shoulder Lane Project – slated to start construction in July. Here are some things you should know about this I-70 mountain corridor work:
- The Colorado Department of Transportation is working to coordinate program management and communication activities on several independent projects. This means you will have one website, one email address and one phone number to use in planning your travels. Watch your email in the coming weeks for details on these information resources.
- There won’t be any work in the I-70 corridor for the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends.
- Most of the work to build the westbound I-70 Mountain Express Lane can be done while keeping two westbound lanes open to minimize the impact on traffic flow.
- Construction of the Fall River Road Bridge is slated for substantial completion this November, while the Westbound Peak Period Shoulder Lane Project is targeting a late 2020 completion with express lanes system testing following that.
- Other projects with shorter timeframes include the construction of the Georgetown Gateway along Argentine Street, bike path construction near Georgetown, a mill and overlay project on Loveland Pass, chip seal repairs along State Highway 103 and ramp and wall construction at the Silver Plume exit.
The goal of organizing information on all of these projects is to minimize public inconvenience and help people better plan their travels through the I-70 mountain corridor. We encourage you to share this information with your family, friends, and colleagues, and watch for more information in the coming days and weeks.
CDOT I-70 Mountain Corridor
Program Management Team