DENVER — A full interstate closure will affect drivers in metro Denver this weekend.
Interstate 70 will close in both directions between Interstate 270 and Steele/Vasquez in Denver from Friday, Sept. 20 at 10 p.m. through Monday, Sept. 23 at 5 a.m.
Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) says the closure, part of the Central 70 Project, will allow crews to set girders for the replacement bridge at Colorado Boulevard over I-70 and begin the I-270 bridge demolition.
The full weekend closure will allow crews to complete work that could potentially take months of nightly lane closures in just one weekend, according to CDOT.
For I-70 westbound drivers:
Westbound I-70 traffic will enter northbound I-270, use the off-ramp to westbound I-76, take southbound I-25 and exit onto westbound I-70.
For I-70 eastbound drivers:
Eastbound I-70 traffic will enter onto northbound I-25, use the off-ramp to eastbound I-76, take southbound I-270 and exit onto eastbound I-70. Traffic needing to enter I-70 just before Steele/Vasquez may still do so.
RELATED: $1.2 billion I-70 project delayed
The Central 70 Project — a public-private partnership between CDOT and KMP — includes ripping out the crumbling I-70 viaduct across north Denver, expanding the highway between Interstate 25 and Chambers Road using toll lanes and sinking a portion of the highway between Brighton and Colorado boulevards.
The project will cost $1.2 billion and is now planned to be completed in December 2022, according to CDOT.
CDOT said the purpose of the 10-mile project is to alleviate traffic congestion in the area and ensure the integrity of the highway's 55-year-old viaducts by providing the "first safety and capacity improvements ... since the highway's construction in 1964."
The project will also enhance pedestrian and bicycle connectivity by incorporating eight-foot sidewalks, tree lawns and lighting along roads.
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