The $1.2 billion project will reconstruct a 10-mile stretch of I-70, add one new Express Lane in each direction, remove the aging 53-year old viaduct, as well as lower the interstate between Brighton and Colorado boulevards and place a 4-acre park over a portion of the lowered interstate. It is expected to take four to five years to complete.

The project is being delivered as a public-private partnership between Kiewit Meridiam Partners (KMP) and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). KMP claims it will be able to shave six months off the estimated five-year construction timeline. In its winning bid, the consortium also projected it could deliver the project for $71 million less than CDOT’s original estimate.

KMP will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the project. In addition to shouldering over half of that upfront project cost — $687 million — once the project is done, CDOT will pay KMP $28.4 million annually totaling $1.26 billion over 30 years. CDOT will also pay KMP $7.1 million a year as operations, maintenance and rehabilitation payments.

KMP, for its part, is contributing $65 million of its own equity. Taxpayer-guaranteed government loans make up the remaining $545 million. Construction could begin by late spring.

Angelica Obioha, Infrastructure-Info Staff