SILVERTHORNE, Colo. — A highway safety project in the mountains west of Denver is now complete.
State and local transportation officials celebrated the completion of the I-70 Frisco to Silverthorne Aux Lane project last week.
Improvements on Interstate 70 include the addition of the auxiliary lane along approximately three and a half miles of interstate between Frisco and Silverthorne as well as an improved deceleration lane with a safer lane exit at the eastbound exit 205 off-ramp to Silverthorne and Dillon.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) said the project also included drainage improvements and installation of wildlife fencing along both eastbound and westbound I-70. The scenic area overlooking Lake Dillon, which was closed during construction and reopened in October, received additional truck parking and new street lighting.
“The new off-ramp layout will provide improved traffic flow, capacity and turning movements to northbound Colorado Highway 9 to Silverthorne and eastbound US 6 to Dillon and Keystone,” said CDOT Region 3 Transportation Director Jason Smith.
The project, which began in spring of 2022, is part of the Colorado Department of Transportation's 10-year Plan.
Other improvement projects in the plan include upgrades at the Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnels, resurfacing from Silverthorne to Eisenhower Tunnel, the I-70 Structure Replacement West of Eisenhower Tunnel, and the Eisenhower Tunnel Infrastructure Upgrades. Also underway is the West Vail Pass Auxiliary Lanes project.
“In addition to the new auxiliary lane, this project includes structural work widening two eastbound bridges over the Blue River and US Highway 6 to accommodate the aux lane and generally make this section safer for all travelers,” said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew. “This is anticipated to reduce crashes and help all travelers move around each other in rough weather conditions, whether those folks are freight traffic, single occupancy vehicles, buses or other travelers.”
“Interstate 70 is a vital link not only for the daily activities of Summit County residents and businesses,” said John Cater, Colorado Division Administrator with the Federal Highway Administration. “It's important for travelers from the Front Range to come up and recreate in the summer and winter as well as freight traffic from beyond Colorado’s borders. Prioritizing this project is critical for this section of the interstate to serve local, state, national needs, and everything in between.”
“For Summit County locals, I-70 is the road we take to pick our kids up from school, the route our buses take folks to work and the road our first responders and public safety officials rely on to respond to emergency incidents,” said Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue. “This project is incredibly important to Summit County and everyone in our community. I am grateful for so much of the support we’ve received to make this happen.”
“This section of I-70 is not only the road our emergency services use to get around to respond to incidents, we also respond to incidents on this stretch of roadway,” said Ryan Hyland, Chair of the I-70 Coalition and Silverthorne Town Manager. “This third lane will hopefully mean we need to respond less often to crashes on I-70 because it’s safer.” Hyland noted how smoothly the project was managed, despite night work, detours and other challenges.
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