Overnight closures planned at Floyd Hill as CDOT crews begin work on bridge that will carry new I-70 alignment
The $900 million I-70 Floyd Hill Project will also require traffic holds for rock blasting and rock scaling again this year
Ryan Spencer/The Post Independent
The Interstate 70 Floyd Hill Project is entering “a major phase of construction” that will require intermittent overnight closures, according to a news release from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Located between Evergreen and Idaho Springs, Floyd Hill is an about 8-mile stretch of I-70 where the transportation department has undertaken a $900 million project aimed at improving safety and travel time reliability.
The next step in the project involves building a new westbound I-70 alignment along the hillside south of Clear Creek. The realignment will reduce the steep grade and sharp curves that drivers currently experience on I-70 at Floyd Hill, according to the news release.
Construction of a cast-in-place segmental bridge, which will carry the new westbound I-70 alignment, will also begin this spring and continue through mid-2027, the release states. This bridge will be built piece by piece above live traffic with crews on movable platforms pouring 15-foot concrete sections that will extend from each bridge pier column like a “T” until the full span of the bridge connects, according to CDOT.
To build a temporary framework system to support the bridge, crews will require two overnight full closures of eastbound I-70 between Exits 244 and 248 from 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. each night from Tuesday, March 31, to Thursday, April 2, the release states. A detour on U.S. Highway 40 will be in place during those times
If weather impacts the work, crews will shift the construction schedule and the overnight closures could instead occur on the nights of Tuesday, April 7, and Wednesday, April 8, according to the news release.
Additional overnight closures will occur on westbound I-80, likely in early April, the release states. Drivers should also anticipate intermittent traffic holds for rock blasting and rock scaling through Floyd Hill on Mondays through Thursdays about once an hour between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. throughout the year, according to CDOT.
To stay up to date with I-70 Floyd Hill traffic impacts, drivers can sign up to receive text alerts by texting “floydhill” to 21000.
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