Contractors on Wednesday were given their first comprehensive tutorial on the in northeast Denver by state transportation officials who also emphasized its importance both here and in the country.
“This will be a signature project for Colorado and the country,” said Shailen Bhatt, the new executive director for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
As many as 150 representatives from companies throughout the United States and abroad gathered at the National Western Complex for a detailed look at CDOT’s plan for the corridor. They listened to talks on the project’s technical, financial and environmental aspects.
The I-70 forum continues Thursday with one-on-one meetings with industry reps and CDOT officials. The idea of the forum was to garner interest among contractors about I-70 “and to give them an idea of what they are facing if they sign on,” said Bhatt.
The project calls for widening I-70 between I-25 and I-225 and it would include toll lanes and the removal of the 50-year-old viaduct that has split the Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods.
CDOT is proposing using a public-private partnership with a consortium of companies to finance, build, maintain and operate the highway over the next several decades.
CDOT also faces a $90 million funding gap to complete the first phase of the project, which shouldn’t scare away any potential partners, said Peter Kozinski, CDOT’s I-70 East project director.
“This is not a huge barrier for a project of this size,” said Kozinski.
CDOT will issue an industry-side Request For Proposal for the project this month while closing on a contractor by the end of 2016.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley
