WASHINGTON — The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed awarding $25 million to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) for a project that would add a toll lane to a 12-mile stretch of westbound Interstate 70.
The proposed project would cost a total of $96.6 million and affects I-70 in Clear Creek County. DOT announced the proposal Friday.
The project would add a 12-mile tolled shoulder lane to the interstate. It would also resurface and widen the highway, reconstruct a frontage road, build a new bridge and install a “3.5-mile multi-use facility.”
“The project mirrors a recently-installed peak period shoulder lane in the eastbound direction,” DOT said in a release. “The I-70 Westbound Peak Period Shoulder Lane project will generate regional economic and mobility benefits by substantially improving the flow of passenger and freight traffic by expanding capacity on this important, but currently congested, regional connection”
The funding would come through DOT’s INFRA grant program. According to the department, the grants aim to fix the county’s crumbling infrastructure and create opportunities for the government and private sector to build improvements.
“INFRA grants empower state and local governments to expand, repair and modernize our country’s transportation systems,” said Secretary Elaine L. Chao.
Another Colorado proposal announced Friday would improve Interstate 25 in El Paso and Douglas Counties. The proposed grant would fund $65 million of a $350 million project. It would widen an 18-mile portion of I-25 between Monument and Castle Rock.