The Colorado Department of Transportation’s Central 70 Project made significant progress in 2020, accomplishing dozens of major milestones and getting in more than 1 million hours worked this year.

The infrastructure project is the largest in the state’s history, reconstructing a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 70, adding an Express Lane in each direction, removing the viaduct and lowering I-70 between Brighton and Colorado boulevards.

This year, 16 ramps were reconstructed, two bridges were completed and the remaining 18 bridges are now under construction.

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In addition, nearly 29,000 feet of sidewalk were constructed, over 1.66 million cubic yards of dirt were excavated and over 500,000 tons of asphalt were placed for the westbound lanes, several weeks ahead of schedule.

Numerous long-term closures also began this year, including the westbound I-70 off-ramps to Brighton Boulevard and Steele/Vasquez and the Steele Street on-ramp to westbound I-70.

Besides just construction, the project also dedicated more than 2,700 hours of public outreach in 2020 to get input from the communities influenced by the project.

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The $1.2 billion project first broke ground in 2018, with 3 million hours of labor being dedicated to its completion so far.

The project is scheduled to be finished by 2022. In 2021, crews will shift existing eastbound and westbound I-70 traffic onto the new westbound lanes and demolish the 56-year-old viaduct.

More information and future updates about the Central 70 Project are available online at codot.gov.