start moving on I-70 East as CDOT begins five-year project

Construction or destruction on the hills south of eastbound Interstate 70 near exit 247 and Beaver Brook can be seen from the interstate today.

More than a dozen heavy equipment operators are swinging the massive machines into the rock and dirt to “scale” part of the mountian away.

What to expect with rock scaling and blasting e Colorado Department of Transportation said that “rock scaling is underway and rock blasting is scheduled to start in mid-August. About 20 feet of material will be removed.”

Scaling and blasting will take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through ursday, according to CDOT. e scaling and blasting will happen up to four times a day and could cause delays in both directions of Floyd Hill for 20 to 40 minutes.

Why are we going to deal with this construction for the next five years? e current curves are rated for

45 mph, according to Kurt Kionka, CDOT Floyd Hill Project director. Many drivers “clearly exceed that safety limit,” Kionka added.

Approximately $700 million in state and federal dollars will be spent on the project. is includes the largest single grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to Colorado: $100 million.

According to CDOT, the ultimate goal of the project is multilateral and multifold.

I-70 Floyd Hill Project will:

• Add a third westbound I-70 travel lane in this two-lane bottleneck. is new lane will be a full-time, tolled express lane from just west of Homestead Road (Exit 247) through the Veterans Memorial Tunnels to Colorado Blvd./Idaho Springs (Exit 241);

• Rebuild bridges damaged due to use, wear and tear, and heavy usage;

• Construct a missing two-mile section of the frontage road between U.S. 6 and the Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway interchanges, which will improve emergency response;

• Build an extended on-ramp from U.S. 6 onto eastbound I-70 for slowmoving vehicles to have more room to merge;

• Improve tra c ow and access at interchanges and intersections;

• Improve sight distance and safety by straightening roadway curves;

• Improve the Clear Creek Greenway trail; and

• Implement environmental mitigation to enhance wildlife connectivity, air and water quality, stream conditions and recreation. Motorists can stay in the know on when blasting activities are planned by signing up for text alerts by texting oydhill to 21000, according to CDOT.

Continue to check the Clear Creek Courant for the latest news on this project.