Featured Image: Courtesy of CDOT
There are no ifs, ands or buts about it, I-70 is a royal pain in the you-know-what on weekends during ski season. What should take just under a couple hours to the many resorts along the Front Range corridor can take up to five or six hours—depending on how many accidents and other motor vehicle conundrums occur along the way. It’s no secret that the ski community has been pining for something to be done about it, and lucky for us, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has been tirelessly working on a solution—two years in to a six-year I-70 construction project on Floyd Hill.
A notorious stretch of I-70 between Evergreen and Idaho Springs, Floyd Hill’s outdated design—taking three lanes down to two along a large bend in the highway—has posed as a bottleneck for years and only seems to get worse with every passing season. Now two years into the project, we caught up with Austyn Dineen, CDOT’s I-70 Mountain Corridor Communications Manager, to give our Colorado readers a full update on all that has been accomplished, so far, and what we have to look forward to in the near future.
What progress has been made on the Floyd Hill project since July 2023?
In July 2023, crews began the Floyd Hill Project I-70 construction between County Road 65 in Evergreen and the middle of Floyd Hill. In fall 2025, work will be complete in this area and motorists will be driving on the final I-70 alignment.
Since construction began in July 2023, crews have:
- Completed more than 60 rock blasts on the Project to date, removing nearly 270,000 tons of rock material
- Installed 5,600 linear feet of drainage pipe
- Built retaining walls reinforced with 125,000 square feet of shotcrete
- Installed two miles of deer fencing in both directions, seven wildlife escape ramps and a deer guard on County Road 65 which will help reduce wildlife-vehicle conflicts on I-70
- Constructed 5.5 lane miles of permanent roadway on I-70 between Idaho Springs (Exit 241) and CR 65 (Exit 248)
How much is left to be done in the Floyd Hill area?
Construction continues on I-70 between the middle of Floyd Hill and the Veterans Memorial Tunnels in Idaho Springs. Through 2026, crews will perform rock scaling and blasting in this area, which will help facilitate bridge construction and the straightening of roadway curves.
By the end of 2026, motorists will see construction beginning on the future westbound I-70 bridge that will stand at 115 feet high and feature a marked change in I-70 alignment as it carries traffic through the hillside that is currently to the south of I-70.
The rendering above represents that new alignment—from left to right you see the new westbound I-70, eastbound I-70 and a new one-mile section of frontage road that connects US 6 with the Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway (Exit 243) interchange. In all, the project will build 10 new bridges.
I-70 will be in its new alignment in 2028, with the entire project complete in 2029.
What is on the agenda for improvements before the next ski season (2025-26)?
Motorists can expect traffic holds for rock blasting through 2026. In addition to the robust information travel and road information found on COtrip.org and the COTrip Planner App, the project launched additional text alerts as another way to stay informed—sign up by texting floydhill (one word) to 21000.
During ski season, motorists will notice heavy bridge construction happening both above and adjacent to I-70 in the Floyd Hill area. CDOT asks motorists to pay attention to the roadway and abide by the reduced speed limit, which is as low as 45 MPH through the work zone. The Floyd Hill text alert is one of the three text alert services offered on the I-70 Mountain Corridor, alongside alerts for the I-70 Vail Pass Auxiliary Lanes Project and I-70 Express Lanes. These additional text alerts are designed to help motorists plan their travel before they get behind the wheel or to be used with a hands-free device in accordance with the new Colorado law that took effect on January 1, 2025.
Any other notable points for Colorado motorists?
Ultimately, CDOT’s I-70 Floyd Hill Project will:
- Install two permanent air quality monitors
- Add a third westbound I-70 travel lane (full-time, tolled Express Lane) in the current two-lane bottleneck to improve travel time reliability
- Change the alignment of I-70 from the middle of Floyd Hill to the Veterans Memorial Tunnels to straighten roadway curves to improve safety and sight distance
- Rebuild bridges due to heavy usage and wear and tear
- Add a two-mile section of frontage road between the US 6 and Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway interchanges
- Move the current left-merge US 6 on-ramp to westbound I-70 to the Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway (Exit 243) interchange
- Build an extended on-ramp from US 6 onto eastbound I-70
- Improve traffic flow at interchanges and intersections by adding roundabouts on US 40 at County Road 65 (Exit 248) and Homestead Road (Exit 247), and at the I-70 and Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway (Exit 243) interchange
- Improve the Clear Creek Greenway trail and resurface it with concrete
- Implement environmental mitigation to enhance wildlife connectivity, air and water quality, stream conditions and recreation
We know first-hand just how frustrating getting up to the mountains on I-70 can be—especially when it’s under construction. But with deadlines set, this temporary inconvenience is a small investment in smoother (and safer) travels for years to come. As a way to help CDOT help all of us—and show your appreciation for the men and women out on the roads doing the heavy lifting—follow speed limits, stay off your phone, carpool when you can or maybe even give the Snowstang a try. We’ll see you on the slopes, not in traffic.
