Hitting the four sets of traffic lights on E-470 at its junction with Interstate 70 can be the most maddening aspect of using the 47-mile toll road on the east rim of the Denver metro area.
Now, E-470 officials are halfway through a $29 million project to bypass the bottleneck with new lanes that will allow toll-road users to zip over the interstate and other nearby roadways at 70 mph.
They call it the I-70 Flyby, a 2-mile complex of bridges and ramps that will enable motorists on the toll highway to get to and from Denver International Airport and other locations without breaking stride.
The flyby is scheduled to open in about one year.
“I’ve heard from customers that they’re tired of the traffic lights going to the airport,” E-470 executive director Ed DeLozier said.
“This is what everyone wanted to build at the beginning,” said John McCuskey, E-470’s finance director. But money was not available to build the flyby 10 years ago when the segment that intersects with I-70 was constructed, officials said.
E-470’s finance plan calls for regularly scheduled toll increases, and officials have scheduled one for Jan. 1.
Next month, the E-470 board of directors will decide whether to impose an across-the-board 25-cent toll increase at many of the road’s toll plazas, or a more complicated toll hike that would have a higher increase for those paying with cash compared with motorists using electronic tolling transponders.
Another possible toll-hike plan would charge higher tolls during the morning and afternoon rush hours but not raise tolls for off-peak users.
As part of the flyby, E-470 also is rerouting East Colfax Avenue at the toll road/I-70 junction and is constructing a bridge over what is expected to be a future extension of East 19th Avenue.
Once the flyby is completed, the traffic lights will remain to control local traffic movements and connections between I-70 and Colfax, 19th and Gun Club Road.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
