The Colorado Department of Transportation on Thursday announced $1.7 billion in new projects for the next five years, adding to the department’s ongoing decade-long infrastructure plan.

The $1.7 billion adds to $2.2 billion in previous investments for the state’s 10 Year Plan, totaling nearly $4 billion for transportation projects, such as fixing roads and bridges, making the state’s largest modern investment in rural roads and advancing infrastructure for alternate transportation methods.

“We are taking bold action to improve our infrastructure, roads and bridges while saving people time and money,” said Gov. Jared Polis. “From Floyd Hill to Lake City, we are fixing rural roads and making sure that Coloradans and visitors can get where they need to go safely and quickly.”

With the additional funding, the Department of Transportation approved a new set of projects Thursday, including continuations of the expansion of Interstate 25 North and the rural road improvement program, in addition to tens of millions of dollars in pavement repairs along Interstate 76 and Interstate 70 in northern Colorado. They also include expanding transit services across the state, including on I-70 and I-25.

The Floyd Hill Project – the largest transportation project in Colorado since work began on the expansion of I-70 through Denver – will also receive some of the new funds to address traffic and safety issues along the I-70 Mountain Corridor from Floyd Hill to Veterans Memorial Tunnel. Colorado recently received a $100 million federal grant to help fund the Floyd Hill Project, the Department of Transportation’s largest ever federal grant.

The new list of projects sets the department up to achieve a record year of construction, with current forecasts predicting $960 million in contractor payments through the end of the year. 

“CDOT is proud to take this next step in building Colorado’s infrastructure and improving our transportation system for years to come,” said Shoshana Lew, executive director of the department. “Colorado now has sustained support to fix and build the infrastructure our growing state needs.”

The $1.7 billion was approved by the state legislature, coming from the final year of financing from Senate Bill 17-267, which the General Assembly passed in 2017, and the first year of sustained, long-term funding from Senate Bill 21-260 passed in 2021. Additional dollars also come from federal funds provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Numerous projects from the 10 Year Plan are already underway or have been completed, including replacing bridges on I-70 and Interstate 270 in the Denver metro area, reconstructing a stretch of U.S. Highway 50 on the Western Slope, addressing a decades-long backlog of repairs to the Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnels and repaving I-70 at Genesee and Silverthorne.