The Colorado Dept. of Transportation has selected the Kiewit Meridiam Partners (KMP) to lead a public-private partnership that will design, build and finance a reconstruction of Interstate 70 through Denver. The $1.2-billion project, known as Central 70, is the biggest highway infrastructure project in the state’s history.
The project will reconstruct a 10-mile stretch of I-70 east of downtown, add a new tolled express lane in each direction, remove a deteriorating 53-year-old viaduct, lower a portion of the freeway, and create a four-acre park near an elementary school over the lowered interstate. CDOT originally planned for a five-year project, but agency officials said they selected the KMP team because it proposes to slice nearly six months off that schedule.