Major road work planned for Interstate 70’s Floyd Hill project in 2025

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s Floyd Hill Project — a major multiyear infrastructure project on Interstate 70 — has delivered significant progress since its start in July 2023, with no plans of slowing down in 2025.

The $700 million project seeks to improve 8 miles of the Interstate 70 Mountain Corridor between Evergreen and eastern Idaho Springs — a stretch of highway that has long been a pain point for traffic congestion.

The construction’s main selling point is a third westbound I-70 travel lane to fix the current two-lane bottleneck to improve travel time reliability. 

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The department’s ongoing and upcoming work means motorists can expect delays and closures in all three sections throughout 2025. The section of Floyd Hill near the U.S. Highway 6 interchange serves 57,000 vehicles every day on average, according to 2023 CDOT traffic counts.

Although the project isn’t expected to conclude until late 2028, CDOT crews have made several strides in the last six months.

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By late 2024, 97,000 tons of material had been removed from the hillside above eastbound I-70 on the east section of the project (from County Road 65 to the middle of Floyd Hill), as well as 40,000 tons in the central and west sections of the project between the U.S. Highway 6 interchange and the Veterans Memorial Tunnels to widen the highway. 

Roads were straightened in the east section to make way for a third westbound travel lane meant to serve as a tolled express lane stretching from Homestead Road to Idaho Springs. 

Crews have also installed new drainage pipes and built retaining walls, constructed 5.5 lane miles of permanent roadway between Idaho Springs and County Road 65, and implemented a wildlife mitigation system. Measures to decrease wildlife collisions include 2 miles of deer fencing along I-70, seven escape ramps and deer guard on County Road 65.

Upcoming construction efforts

Early 2025 will see more rock blasting and signage work on the east, central and west sections. 

East section

Currently, crews are working in the median of the east section, which runs from Country Road 65 to the middle of Floyd Hill. The work will require overnight I-70 lane and ramp closures before full closures are enacted for overhead sign installation on westbound I-70 between County Road 65 and U.S. Highway 6. Westbound I-70 will close again in February for the removal of the old overhead signing.

Central section

Work for the future eastbound and westbound I-70 bridges will continue in the central section. Motorists traveling through the middle of Floyd Hill to Hidden Valley can expect daily traffic holds for rock blasting on the hillside to the south of eastbound I-70 and Clear Creek.

West section

Bridges will be built off the current I-70 travel lanes to minimize impacts for motorists, though travelers will still experience alternating single-lane traffic on U.S. 40 and overnight I-70 lane and ramp closures in the area. 

The west section will also experience daily traffic holds for rock blasting on the hillside above westbound I-70. This is to straighten highway curves to improve safety and sight distance.

CDOT Major Projects Communications Lead Stacia Sellers said construction on the east section is expected to last until summer 2026, while the other two sections will wrap up by late 2028.

Once completed, the five-year project will exhibit a new westbound toll lane, an extended on-ramp from U.S. Highway 6 onto eastbound I-70, road readjustments on east and westbound highway sections, repaired bridges and two permanent air quality monitors.

Motorists urged to plan ahead

The project will require hundreds of traffic holds for rock blasting operations through 2026, according to CDOT. 

Motorists should be ready to encounter any of the following:

• Multiple traffic holds between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. to noon on Fridays, between U.S. 6 and the Veterans Memorial Tunnels.
• Occasional traffic holds on County Road 314, Central City Parkway, U.S. 40 and U.S. 6, if necessary.
• Narrower lanes and shoulders.
• Reduced speed limits.

“(Traffic holds) have been relatively short. … It really just depends on the rocks that fall down,” Sellers said. “We’re still doing 20-minute traffic holds, and telling folks that it could take about 45 minutes if you’re at the back of the traffic queue.”

There are no recommended detour routes during traffic holds, so motorists are recommended to stay on I-70.

“With the traffic holds for the rock blasting, it’s best to just stay on the highway,” Sellers said. “If they decide, ‘I’ll take 285 as a detour,’ for instance, that’s adding way more time than it would take to just stay on I-70. We also don’t want folks traveling on roads that might not be in good condition, especially in the wintertime.”

To stay informed on closures, traffic holds and other travel impacts, motorists can sign up for text alerts by texting “floydhill” to 21000. Visit COtrip.org or the COtrip Planner app for real-time traffic information.