DENVER – Drivers from across the metro should expect some delays if traveling on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 through Denver as traffic will shift onto the new permanent lanes of the Central 70 Project Wednesday.
Weather permitting, the eastbound lanes of I-70 will shift south between Steel Street/Vasquez and Colorado boulevards as crews work to install intelligent transportation systems for future Express Lanes. Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) officials said Tuesday this will be the first traffic shift for drivers into the new and permanent lanes in the new, lowered section of the highway.
This shift is one of several happening as CDOT works to finalize completion of the project, which is expected to happen by late summer 2022. A four-acre cover park that will have two soccer fields, an amphitheater, a splash pad and playground will be tackled after that part of the project is done.
Our partners at The Denver Post report the “substantial completion” milestone, which was expected to be reached this month, has been moved back to late January 2023, but Central 70 Project officials told the newspaper they were working to reach that completion date by the end of this year.
CDOT officials said no detours are planned for this traffic shift, but drivers should expect slight delays as corridor drivers get used to the new alignment.
Renovation of the ten-mile stretch of the highway began in August 2018.
