A federal loan of up to $416 million has been awarded to Lenexa-based Kiewit Meridiam Partners LLC for the Central Interstate 70 project.

Sen. Cory Gardner said in a press release that he led efforts in the Senate to block changes to the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program in 2015, which could have impacted this project and several others in the state.

The project includes replacing a 10-mile segment of I-70 east of Denver, making the stretch safer and easing traffic congestion. CDOT selected Kiewit Meridiam Partners in August as the preferred company to design, build and finance the reconstruction of I-70 in Denver, as well as operate and maintain Central 70 for the next 30 years.

“This project was one of the major reasons I fought to protect TIFIA funding during consideration of the 2015 highway bill,” Gardner said in a statement. “With Colorado’s growing population, it’s important we ensure our state receives enough resources to properly serve Coloradans.”

According to CDOT, Kiewit Meridiam has handled some of the state’s largest projects, including the Denver Union Station transit improvements; I-225 rail line; Pecos Street over I-70 bridge replacement; the U.S. 34 Big Thompson Canyon emergency repairs; and Denver’s T-REX expansion – CDOT’s only other mega-project. Kiewit’s experience in the state, some 70 years’ worth, also includes building the second bore of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels in 1975.

“CDOT sought a partner that would deliver Central 70 on budget, on time, and with technical excellence and innovation. Kiewit Meridiam Partners has demonstrated that they can meet this challenge while minimizing impacts to those who travel, work and live along I-70,” then CDOT executive director Shailen Bhatt said in August.

Kiewet Meridiam proposed a bid is within CDOT’s project budget and promises an early project completion date that shaves a full construction season off the CDOT project schedule, Bhatt said. The plan also requires only two major traffic switches, minimizing disruption, and creates the least amount of environmental impact.

Kiewet Meridiam has also committed to providing $1 million in community investments through its community foundation.

This project is the largest infrastructure development project in CDOT’s history, the department says, costing $1.2 billion. Along with reconstruction of a 10-mile stretch of I-70 east of downtown, a new express lane will be added in each direction between I-25 and Chambers Road, the 53-year-old viaduct will be taken out, and the interstate between Brighton and Colorado boulevards will be lowered. A four-acre park will be built over a portion of the lowered interstate between Clayton and Columbine streets.

CDOT will pay $687 million for upfront costs and then make annual payments to Kiewet Meridiam for the remainder. Kiewet Meridiam has agreed to pay for potential cost overruns.

The plan has come under fire from some of the affected neighborhoods, which say 56 homes and 17 businesses in the area would have to be demolished. The city has said the expansion would create 5,000 new jobs, 20 percent of which will be set aside for local residents, but residents of the city’s oldest Hispanic neighborhood say it’s not good enough.

Activists, a developer and other local community members have filed a lawsuit against the project claiming construction will disturb toxic site and a drainage system nearby will be affected. A federal judge has dismissed some of those claims, but the lawsuit itself is still active. Some in the construction industry have argued that the project will likely run into massive cost overruns, costing closer to $2.2 billion by the time it’s completed.