CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, CO — The Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) I-70 Floyd Hill Project is transforming 8 miles of the Interstate 70 Mountain Corridor between Evergreen and eastern Idaho Springs, Colorado — and the results at the gateway to the Colorado Rocky Mountains are starting to take shape. From safety to operational improvements, motorists traveling the I-70 Mountain Corridor will begin reaping benefits prior to winter.
“As a busy 2025 construction season is wrapping up across Colorado, travelers will have improved roads throughout the state to make trips safer and smoother,” CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew said. “The Floyd Hill team has achieved some significant milestones that will make the drive through this large construction zone a little easier, even as construction activity continues through the winter and into 2026. We will be keeping busy fixing our roads and bridges to make sure everyone gets where they’re going safely and reliably.”
As 2025 wraps up, the I-70 Floyd Hill Project marks significant progress since construction began in July 2023. Crews have reached substantial completion of 3 miles of I-70 between County Road 65 (Exit 248) and the middle of Floyd Hill. This means motorists will be driving on a newly widened and realigned highway in this area featuring new pavement and fresh striping in full-width lanes and shoulders. This new alignment will allow for both a future eastbound I-70 extended on-ramp and a future westbound I-70 Express Lane, in addition to the two free general purpose lanes on westbound I-70, which will improve travel time reliability.
“Through innovative design and the dedication of the CDOT team, our contractor partner Kraemer North America, and dozens of local small businesses, the project now moves into its most ambitious phase: constructing a brand-new segmental bridge right alongside and above today’s I-70,” CDOT’s I-70 Floyd Hill Project Director Kurt Kionka said. “We’ll be building a modern, safer highway while keeping this vital corridor moving. We understand the challenges construction brings to the local community, businesses, and motorists traveling through the area. But we know this work will deliver benefits that both save and improve lives.”
Other improvements in this area include:
| Your local Gomaco dealer |
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| Faris Machinery |
| Tri-State Truck & Equipment Inc |
- A new wildlife safety system including 2 miles of wildlife fencing, seven wildlife escape ramps, and deer guards. This system, in conjunction with the new I-70 and Genesee wildlife underpass, is expected to help reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions by 90 percent.
- Improved drainage systems addressing snow melt and standing water from rain.
- New retaining walls along eastbound I-70 to help stabilize the slope to prevent erosion and landslides. These shotcrete walls are designed to maintain the mountain aesthetic with a natural-looking finish.
In 2026, motorists will begin to see the new alignment of I-70 take shape between the middle of Floyd Hill and the Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway interchange (Exit 243) as crews build the new westbound and eastbound I-70 bridge structures adjacent to the current I-70 alignment, limiting lane closures on I-70. In early December 2025, crews will use multiple westbound I-70 overnight closures to build a temporary framework, which will support the future construction of a concrete cast-in-place segmental bridge over live traffic on I-70.
Rock scaling and blasting, which facilitates roadway widening and a new highway alignment, will continue through 2026. This work requires I-70 traffic holds during weekday off-peak travel hours. Since rock blasting began in October 2024, crews have completed 135 blasts, removing more than 600,000 tons of material — equal to the weight of 20 Statues of Liberty.
Over 1,200 field employees have contributed more than 550,000 work hours to the project. Kraemer North America currently has 162 subcontractors, with 152 being Colorado-based businesses and over 100 suppliers that support the project.
| Your local Volvo Construction Equipment dealer |
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| Faris Machinery |
I-70 will be in its new alignment in 2028, with the entire project expected to conclude in 2029.
