So what is the project shown in the video? I was under the assumption that was the 700 million dollar project but I guess I’m completely wrong if it’s the 3.5 billion dollar one. What will the 700 million dollars be? Some wildlife underpasses and roundabouts!? Or that deals with the rehabilitation of the tunnels as well? CDOTs website confuses the heck out of me sometimes.
If so that’s a real bummer because I use this stretch of freeway fairly often and I’ve been dreaming of improvements for a long time.
They just rebuilt the tunnels by Idaho Springs, widening them to 3 lanes in each direction + shoulder space, so I don't what existing tunnels in/near the Floyd Hill project you are referring to regarding rehabs.
Sorry, I probably confused things more (although I agree the CDOT website can be dodgy). The $700 million project in the news now is the whole set of Floyd Hill area things, including the early action projects and I-70 rebuild+expansion.
The early action projects alone were estimated at $31 million, and I meant to distinguish the Floyd Hill projects from other locations in the corridor, like the Eisenhower Tunnel, which are separate projects that may also receive federal funding.
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Okay thanks for the information. So in its current proposal the entire I-70 mountain corridor projects include this project, the Eisenhower tunnels, and the early action projects. All that combined currently estimated at 3.5 billion. Do I have that correct?
Now is the the Eisenhower third bore tunnel included with the I-70 mountain corridor? And are the projects around Vail included as well or are those completely separate? Sorry for the 21 questions I’m just curious and excited as I travel this area fairly regularly and will probably do much more of that in the future.
For study purposes, "I-70 Mountain Corridor" covers a lot, C-470 to Glenwood Springs; if you start from
this CDOT webpage, you can see some of the relatively recent/active things at the top, and there are more links to the labyrinth of related studies and projects. I believe all the projects you mentioned fall under that umbrella, however, CDOT isn't necessarily trying to advance any particular corridor project. The
10-Year Vision Plan lists what they're actively trying to work on; it groups by region and highway corridor, so you could look up I-70 in there.
I don't know if CDOT has a go-to estimate for the whole corridor now, but in 2010/2011, they had a rough, low-end estimate of $11.2 billion for the full "maximum program of improvements" ($20.2 billion in then-estimated 2025 dollars), referring to
"I-70 Mountain Corridor PEIS Cost Estimating Technical Report". The "minimum program" was estimated at $9.2ish billion ($16.5 estimated 2025), but the estimates were all subject to change and escalation over time and further study, so you can't really connect them directly to the projects happening now.
You can see the overview of the preferred alternatives and what the programs of improvement include
here (Figure ES-6); they do include a third Eisenhower Tunnel (EJMT) bore, as well as an "advanced guideway system." The $3.5 billion in this topic, I think, refers to an unsolicited proposal for a different plan that a particular company came up with. It wasn't a CDOT project or number.
Speaking more concretely, there aren't active plans to construct a third EJMT bore; the maintenance backlog on the existing tunnels is the main concern. The
2020 ROD reevaluation mentions this:
The CE wanted to clarify whether the EJMT third bore is part of the Minimum or Maximum Program of Improvements because the PEIS does not specifically classify the EJMT third bore in either program or as a separate improvement project. After discussion, the CE concluded that the EJMT expansion should be classified in the Minimum Program. This conclusion was based on the relationship of the EJMT improvements to other parts of the Preferred Alternative that are clearly outlined in the Minimum Program, such as the Vail Pass auxiliary lanes and the AGS bore through the Continental Divide. Further, expanding the EJMT would not trigger the Maximum Program and classifying the EJMT expansion in the Minimum Program provides more flexibility to advance this discrete but complex action, such as if tolling could fund its expansion.
Maybe as a counterpoint, though,
this 2021 article briefly mentions that CDOT isn't going to pursue the third bore.
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To try to recap what I think to be the numbers:
$3.5 billion: private estimate for a privately-conceived project in ~2011-13; today's corridor plan doesn't include the envisioned project, which featured a "reversible express tollway"
$11.2 billion: CDOT rough estimate for I-70 Mountain Corridor preferred alternative minimum program of improvements in 2010 dollars (high-cost components include EJMT third bore and advanced guideway transit)
$0.7 billion: total estimated 2020s Floyd Hill area project cost (including $0.031 billion early projects and "canyon viaduct" overall alternative)
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Topic: I-70 in Colorado: Mountain Corridor Upgrades (Read 18920 times)