I-70 Floyd Hill Project | Construction

About the Project

The I-70 Floyd Hill Project encompasses an eight-mile section of the I-70 Mountain Corridor from west of Evergreen to eastern Idaho Springs that acts as an economic gateway for the state of Colorado and the nation. Home to long-time residents, dozens of large and small businesses and tourism traffic, this section of I-70 is in desperate need of improvements.

Adjusted Estimated Project Cost

In 2020, the estimated Project cost was $700 million based on a preliminary conceptual design. As design progressed toward final, more Project details became known. Since 2020, the transportation industry faced cost pressures such as rising construction and material costs, which directly impacted the I-70 Floyd Hill Project. The 2025 cost to deliver the Project as scoped is now $905 million.

Adjusted Project Timeline

Westbound I-70 will be in its new alignment by the end of 2027 and eastbound I-70 will be in its new alignment by the end of 2028, with the entire Project complete in 2029. The adjusted completion date, extending from 2028 to 2029, provides the Project team with additional time to refine the design and timeline to address seasonal environmental constraints.

Work this Week & Lane Closures I-70 Floyd Hill

Project Facts

• Estimated Construction Cost: $700 million (Refer to Adjusted Estimated Project Cost for details)
• Contractor: Kraemer North America
• Timeline: Construction began in July 2023. I-70 will be in its new alignment in 2028, with the entire Project complete in 2029. (Refer to Adjusted Project Timeline for details) 
• Location: I-70 from County Road 65 (Exit 248) to Colorado Boulevard (Exit 241)
  • Nearest Town: Idaho Springs
  • Mile Points: 241 to 248
  • County: Clear Creek County

The I-70 Floyd Hill project will:

• Add a third westbound I-70 travel lane in this two-lane bottleneck to improve travel time reliability. This new lane will be a full-time, tolled Express Lane from just west of Homestead Road (Exit 247) to Colorado Blvd./Idaho Springs (Exit 241).
• Change the alignment of I-70 from the middle of Floyd Hill to the Veterans Memorial Tunnels to straighten roadway curves, which will 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, which will improve resiliency and emergency response.
• Move the current left-merge US 6 on-ramp to westbound I-70 to the Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway (Exit 243) interchange to improve safety and operations.
• Build an extended on-ramp from US 6 onto eastbound I-70 to give slow-moving vehicles more room to merge.
• 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.
• Install two permanent air quality monitors.

Future I-70 Floyd Hill

Explore design renderings of the I-70 Floyd Hill Project. Major Project elements pictured below depict the following:

• New westbound I-70 Express Lane being built between west of Homestead Road (Exit 247) to Colorado Boulevard/Idaho Springs (Exit 241)
• New 115-foot tall bridge that will carry westbound I-70 traffic in a new alignment that shifts the highway south into the hillside above Clear Creek
• Braided configuration of eastbound and westbound I-70
• New frontage road connecting US 6 to the Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway (Exit 243) interchange.

Check all design renderings in the I-70 Floyd Hill project photos.

Geographic Sections of the  I-70 Floyd Hill Project

The Project has been designed and will be constructed in three main geographic sections shown on the map below. 

Map of the I-70 Floyd Hill Project highlighting the three geographic phases that the project will be built in. The East Section spans from County Road 65 (Exit 248) to the bottom of Floyd Hill. The Central Section spans the middle of Floyd Hill to Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway (Exit 243). The West Section spans from Hidden Valley Interchange (Exit 243) to Idaho Springs Exit 241.

Project Benefits

• Address the bottleneck on I-70 at Floyd Hill and improve travel time reliability
• Rebuild bridges to today’s safety standards
• Improve traffic flow and access at interchanges and intersections
• Improve design speeds and stopping sight distance on horizontal curves
• Implement environmental mitigation to enhance wildlife connectivity, air and water quality, stream conditions and recreation

Work Schedule

• Construction on the East Section began in July 2023 and will last until summer 2026.
• Construction on the West Section began in March 2024 and will last until summer 2028.
• Construction on the Central Section will begin in fall 2024 and last until late 2028.
• *Note: During design, the West Section was originally estimated to start in early 2024 and be completed in fall 2027, and the Central Section was estimated to start in spring 2024. These dates shifted as the project team worked through design and adjusted the timeline to account for seasonal environmental constraints that could affect construction.

Traffic Impacts

During construction, motorists can expect: 

• Occasional daytime 20-minute traffic holds for rock scaling and rock blasting resulting in delays of up to 45 minutes
• Overnight lane closures
• Temporary lane shifts
• Periodic, temporary on- and off-ramp closures
• Periodic, overnight detours in the I-70/US 6 interchange and short-term closures of I-70 for safety critical work
• Temporary closures of the Clear Creek Greenway trail

Efforts to keep I-70 moving during construction include:

• Keeping all lanes and ramps open during peak traffic hours
• Ensuring lane closures are responsive to current traffic patterns
• Innovating complex work above the roadway so it doesn’t impede traffic
• New roadway sections are being built adjacent to current lanes to keep traffic moving
• Promote the use of transit and carpool options to reduce single occupancy vehicle