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[thenetwork]

Likely it will be the ground-level frontage road(s) on either side of I-70.

[sparker]

I heard that when they depressed SR 15 here in San Diego, it led to a decrease in crime, prostitution, and the like in the North Park area. I don't know if that kind of effect will be had with the I-70, but it's worth a go.

AFAIK, CA 15 (sporadically signed as I-15 although not formally designated as such south of I-8) was always intended to be a depressed facility along the segment crossing El Cajon Blvd.  When the freeway was opened in the mid-90's, a significant level of gentrification occurred in the adjoining areas, which correspondingly led to the deployment of retail businesses, and in turn a lowered major crime rate (if not considering shoplifting, pickpocketing, and the like!).  Similar story to that of many venues. 

[mvak36]

I found an article from last week in the Denver Post regarding theI-70 project: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/07/29/i-70-construction-project-denver-transportation-central-70/.

Its got a lot of good info. Tentative completion is for Spring 2022.

EDIT; They also broke ground for the project on August 3. https://www.denverpost.com/2018/08/03/interstate-70-construction-breaks-ground/

[andy3175]

Here's a link to the official project webpage for Central 70:

https://www.codot.gov/projects/i70east

Central 70, between I-25 and Chambers Road, is one of Colorado's economic backbones. It is home to 1,200 businesses, providing the regional connection to Denver International Airport and carrying upwards of 200,000 vehicles per day. It's time to bring this aging highway into the 21st century and rejoin communities along the way.

The Central 70 Project will reconstruct a 10-mile stretch of I-70 between Brighton Boulevard and Chambers Road, add one new Express Lane in each direction, remove the aging 57-year-old viaduct, lower the interstate between Brighton and Colorado boulevards, and place a 4-acre park over a portion of the lowered interstate.

CDOT has made a number of commitments to the local community as part of the Central 70 Project. These cover a range of issues, from mitigating the impacts of construction noise and dust to contributing funding to affordable housing and fresh food access.

The site provides progress of the work, including completed, in-progress, and upcoming phases. As of April 2021, here is the status:

A. COMPLETED WORK

1.West Segment (Brighton to Colorado boulevards)

+Demolished portion of the I-70 viaduct above Brighton Boulevard

+Reconstructed southbound lanes of Brighton under I-70

+Demolished old Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) bridge

+Removed York Street on-ramp to westbound I-70

+Constructed Columbine and Clayton bridges in summer 2019

+Constructed Josephine, Fillmore and Monroe bridges in summer 2019 – summer 2020

+BNSF Bridge constructed

+46th North Avenue constructed between Colorado Boulevard and Steele Street

2.Central Segment (Colorado Boulevard to Quebec Street)

+Opened new ramp access to eastbound I-70 from southbound Colorado Boulevard, removed loop ramp

+Constructed a portion of the new Colorado Boulevard Bridge above I-70

+Demolished portions of the old Colorado Boulevard Bridge above I-70

+Installed and relocated utilities along Stapleton Drive

+Demolished portions of the I-70 bridges over Dahlia, Holly and Monaco in preparation for widening

+Rebuilt Stapleton North and South Drive intersections at Dahlia Street

+Rebuilt Stapleton South Drive intersection at Holly Street

+Rebuilt Stapleton South Drive intersection at Monaco Street

+Relocated Holly Street on-ramps to westbound and eastbound I-70 to their permanent locations

+Set girders on I-70 bridge above Dahlia and Holly streets

+Set girders on I-70 bridge above DRIR

+Completed Stapleton Drive North between Holly and Dahlia

3. East segment (Quebec Street to Chambers Road)

+Built I-270 flyover bridge

+Demolished old I-270 flyover

+Widened and shifted I-70 traffic to new pavement

+Demolished the I-70 bridge over Peoria and built a new bridge

+Median barriers installed

+Sign structures installed


B. ONGOING WORK

1. West Segment (Brighton to Colorado boulevards)

-Construction of the Brighton Boulevard interchange

-Closure of 46th Avenue from Brighton Boulevard to York Street — necessary for UPRR bridgework

-Construction of a portion of the new Union Pacific Railroad bridge adjacent to the old structure

-Construction of the pump station

-Installation of structural columns in lowered section

-Cover Park construction

-Cook Street Bridge construction

-Extensive utility relocations along 46th Avenue

2. Central Segment (Colorado Boulevard to Quebec Street)

-Construction of Colorado Boulevard Bridge

-Closure of Dahlia and Monaco streets to construct overhead bridges on I-70

-Utility installations and relocations

-Widening I-70

-DRIR Bridge construction

-Reconstruction of Quebec Street interchange

3.East Segment (Quebec Street to Chambers Road)

-Final paving of roadways


C. UPCOMING WORK IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS

*Constructing the UPRR Bridge

*Construct York and Cook street bridges

*Demolish remaining old Colorado Boulevard Bridge

*Build remaining portion of the Colorado Boulevard bridge

*Constructing the I-70 bridges over Dahlia, Holly and Monaco

*Relocating Stapleton Drive utilities

*Widening I-70 between Colorado Boulevard and Quebec Street

*Shifting Stapleton Drive out between Colorado Boulevard and Quebec Street

*Build widened portions of I-70 bridge above Quebec Street

[zzcarp]

I drove I-70 westbound yesterday from just east of Colorado Blvd. to I-25. From my view, it appears that the grade down to the new westbound lanes is complete but unpaved at Colorado, and it seems the upgrade to the Brighton Blvd. overpass is paved and nearly ready for traffic. The new north frontage road seemed complete as the project report says with many Denver street signs in place.

The former westbound Brighton Blvd. exit ramp is obliterated and has temporary jersey barriers in its former place.

I wish I could have taken pictures, but with the narrowed lanes and heavy afternoon traffic, it didn't seem wise. I'll have to get back down there to explore further at a less busy time.

[The Ghostbuster]

Are there any other segments of Interstate 70 in Denver that should be tunneled as well?

[aboges26]

Are there any other segments of Interstate 70 in Denver that should be tunneled as well?

In a perfect world it all would be with a park and trail on the cap the entire way across the city to the mountains.

[The Ghostbuster]

In a perfect world, all inner-city freeways and parkways would have been built underground, and the only relocations would be for the tunnels' exit and entrance ramps and their terminals. Sadly, we do not live in a perfect world. Hopefully, the new Interstate 70 tunnel will be a vast improvement over the existing elevated viaduct.

[Stephane Dumas]

I saw this aerial video showing Central I-70 who was filmed on April 30.

[zzcarp]

The weekend of May 21-24, CDOT will have a full closure of I-70 to perform the "Mile High Shift".

All current lanes of I-70 will move to the future westbound lanes of the lowered section as early as late this month. Both directions of traffic will stay in the westbound lanes for about 18 months, when the eastbound lanes of I-70 are expected to be completed, CDOT said.

[Henry]

I just read the article, and I just know it's going to be beautiful when the whole thing is completed.

I see some similarities to Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, where the Woodall Rodgers Freeway was reworked in a similar fashion, and wouldn't be surprised if the inspiration came from that.

[usends]

The weekend of May 21-24, CDOT will have a full closure of I-70 to perform the "Mile High Shift".

All current lanes of I-70 will move to the future westbound lanes of the lowered section as early as late this month. Both directions of traffic will stay in the westbound lanes for about 18 months, when the eastbound lanes of I-70 are expected to be completed, CDOT said.

Today (May 15, about a week before the Mile High Shift) CDOT opened up a half-mile of the new lanes to people who wanted to check it out on foot.  The photo below was looking eastward.  For the next 18 months or so, the three lanes on this side of the jersey barriers will carry westbound I-70 traffic, and on the other side of the barriers are three more lanes for temporary eastbound I-70.  Eventually all the lanes you see here will be for westbound traffic.  The eastbound lanes have yet to be built, because first the old viaduct visible at right will have to come down:
vvv
DSCN7572 by ooss, on Flickr

A bit further ahead, this photo shows the capped section of the freeway, which is 2 or 3 blocks long:
vvv
Untitled by ooss, on Flickr

This photo shows the perspective of westbound traffic about to enter the capped segment:
vvv
Untitled by ooss, on Flickr

[andy3175]

Thanks for those photos! It is so much easier to visualize now. The viaduct removal has been a long time in coming, and it's nice to see the underground segment proceeding. Now onto the second half of the project!

SM-G975U

[thenetwork]

About 20-some years ago, this stretch of I-70 east of Denver had a "tunnel" that went below some runway(s) at then Denver International Airport at Stapleton (now Central Park).  When the new DIA airport was opened, they took out the old tunnel as there was no need for the runways anymore.

Now a tunnel returns just a few miles west of the old one's location.

Just an interesting little factoid.

[Elm]

Yes, thanks for the photos! That's the most helpful view I've seen for scale. Interesting contrast to see the viaduct from the lowered section.

CDOT posted the boards they had at the event online here, "More than a Interstate." There's also picture of the Stapleton runway tunnel thenetwork described in station #6.

[triplemultiplex]

Today (May 15, about a week before the Mile High Shift) CDOT opened up a half-mile of the new lanes to people who wanted to check it out on foot. 

Wow, that was really cool thing to do.  Kudos, CDOT.
It'd be awesome if that could be squeezed into the middle of other huge projects around the country.  I would have loved to have that kind of 'open house' in the middle of the big projects to rebuild the major freeway interchanges in Milwaukee when I lived there.

[mgk920]

Today (May 15, about a week before the Mile High Shift) CDOT opened up a half-mile of the new lanes to people who wanted to check it out on foot. 

Wow, that was really cool thing to do.  Kudos, CDOT.
It'd be awesome if that could be squeezed into the middle of other huge projects around the country.  I would have loved to have that kind of 'open house' in the middle of the big projects to rebuild the major freeway interchanges in Milwaukee when I lived there.

WisDOT had a similar official open house (the state's governor and DOT chair were there, too) on the Calumet and Outagamie County part of the WI 441 freeway here in Appleton, WI over the weekend before it opened in October of 1993.  This was after construction and law enforcement people all kind of looked the other way as locals began poking progressively more and more onto the under construction freeway in the spring through the summer of that year, during which time it became a seriously popular recreational outlet.  Any and all sorts of human powered activities, walking, bicycling, blading, running, dog walking, etc, were all very common.

Literally tens of thousands of locals swarmed all over it during that weekend, it was genuinely crowded, especially on the Sunday.  A semi-roadgeek friend of mine who was living in Chicagoland at the time also came up and spent an earlier weekend here to check it out.

It also served as the impetus for a strong local interest in off-road recreational facilities, pathways, parks and so forth that continues to this day.

Mike

[JayhawkCO]

Traffic was shifted onto the new segment today.

https://www.9news.com/article/traffic/central-70-closure/73-97006f71-cb78-4aaa-9a26-657b6ad8a9f3

Chris

[zzcarp]

CDOT had a Facebook Live update with their communications person overlooking the tunnel. Of note, it will take 4-5 months to completely demolish the old viaduct.

The video is mirrored which gives a weird illusion since traffic appears to be driving on the left hand side.

[zzcarp]

I took a drive through the new depressed section last night. All pictures are I-70 heading eastbound in the new depressed westbound lanes and taken May 24 around 8pm.

This first picture is of the lane shift from the Brighton Boulevard exit to the new westbound lanes. It is an awkward shift and I saw many brakelights from people navigating it. The Denver Coliseum is the round building behind the white car. 



Next is after the shift descending along the new section. To the right is the former Brighton Boulevard onramp up to the remnants of the viaduct. The tower of the Purina plant is behind that.

 

Another view of the viaduct remnants below the Purina plant. One can see what portions of the viaduct had to come down immediately for the shift versus those they left for later.



This is at the new railroad overpass over the westbound lanes. This gives a good view of how much the roadway was lowered here from the viaduct. The Purina plant is in the background.



Approaching the York Street overpass.



Approaching the Josephine Street overpass. The new tunnel is in the background.



This is the tunnel entrance at Columbine Street.



This is inside the tunnel between Columbine and Clayton Streets. While 6 lanes are squeezed in here, the lanes felt spacious and roomier than the old viaduct. Above this tunnel will be a new city park.



Having left the tunnel, next we have the Fillmore Street overpass. Behind that is the Steele Street/US 6-85 Vasquez Blvd overpass. The new westbound entrance ramp from Steele Street is on the left.

 

This is a railroad siding bridge in front of the Monroe Street overpass. In the background is the Colorado Boulevard (CO 2) overpass. The new westbound onramp is in the left background.



This is a closer view of the Colorado Boulevard overpass and the end of the newly-aligned section. Of note on the right side is the temporary loop ramp installed for access to Colorado Boulevard. The new westbound onramp is atop the retaining wall on the left. The wall to the right is where the old I-70 lanes swung down from the viaduct.

[JayhawkCO]

I took a drive through the new depressed section last night. All pictures are I-70 heading eastbound in the new depressed westbound lanes and taken May 24 around 8pm.

Thanks for the pics.  I was going to drive it yesterday but ran out of time.  I'll probably drive it this weekend at some point. 

Chris

[Henry]

I'm already liking what I'm seeing! I'll definitely check it out the next time I see my brother in Denver.

[CtrlAltDel]

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you think is under that mat?

[usends]

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you think is under that mat?

[zzcarp]

CDOT's Facebook page has several pictures of the viaduct demolition which is proceeding relatively quickly.