COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — After more than 60 years without an upgrade, one of Colorado's most notorious interstates is getting improvements as the state launches an $806 million overhaul of I-270 to ease traffic, replace a dozen aging bridges and make the corridor safer.
On Monday, transportation officials broke ground on the seven-year project to widen shoulders, improve ramps and add new tolled express lanes in each direction of the six-mile stretch of interstate between I-25 and I-70.
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The corridor carries more than 100,000 vehicles a day and serves as a key freight route for the state's economy, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. Transportation officials said one of the main focuses of the project is to replace 12 aging bridges, eight of which on the west end of the I-270 corridor have been identified as having exceeded their design life.
"People who drive this road intuitively know what's wrong with it, right? There are places that feel precarious, there are joints that shake when you drive over them," CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew said.
With demand for road improvements across Colorado far outpacing available dollars, Lew said funding has been the biggest roadblock to getting the project off the ground.
"We have to balance how many dollars go to, you know, rural roads on the western slope, you know, the big projects in in Denver," she said. "Getting a big project like this funded is a major undertaking, right? And there are more projects than there is money."
The project will ultimately be paid for through a combination of sources, including funding from the state's $5 billion transportation funding package passed in 2021, toll revenue from express lanes and around $170 million in federal dollars.
Sean McMaster, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, said the federal investment is helping move the work forward while also strengthening the state and national economy.
"Ten percent of the traffic is freight on this road," McMaster said. "This freight movement here is critical not only to Colorado with the energy project products moving across it, but it also is important for our national economy as well."
Adams County Commissioner Julie Duran Mullica said generations of elected officials in the county have been advocating for work on I-270. She said the competition for limited transportation dollars is the hardest part of getting any major project up and running in Colorado.
"Transportation funding is tight, and we are competing against other regions throughout Colorado to get the dollars that we need. And that is honestly usually the biggest hurdle: is just trying to get the money we need," Duran Mullica said.
Drivers have also been waiting generations for upgrades to the corridor.
"It's a nightmare because of the potholes and the need of construction," said Jon, a driver stopping for gas in Commerce City. "That road's been notorious for decades. Really, I mean, as soon as they get it repaired it's in need of repair after it's repaired."
CDOT said drivers will see overnight, single-lane closures along I-270 between the South Platte River and 60th Avenue from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. during construction but said there will be no daytime impacts along mainline I-270.
Beyond the bridges and lanes, CDOT said the project will rebuild the Vasquez Boulevard interchange, improve ramps at I-76, York Street and Quebec Street, and add a continuous auxiliary lane between Vasquez Boulevard and York Street. The project will also build a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge over I-270 between East 56th Avenue and Quebec Street, add four new Regional Transportation District bus stops near the Quebec Street interchange, and improve connections to the South Platte River and Sand Creek trails.
