E-470 Wins National Award for New Flyover/Highway 58 & I-70 Interchange Complete

Design-Build Institute of AmericaHonors I-70/E-470 Interchange

The E-470 Public Highway Authority has won the Design-Build Institute of America’s National Design-Build Award for its flyby and flyover ramp project at Interstate 70 and E-470. The two-mile-long flyby over I-70 eliminates stops for northbound and southbound customers, bypassing the existing traffic signals at the intersections with I-70 and two local streets.

The $45-million project was honored as the nation’s best project of the year in the category of transportation projects costing less than $50 million.

The national award is the highest of the three levels of DBIA awards and recognizes projects that best exemplify the principles of interdisciplinary teamwork and problem solving in integrated design-build project delivery.

Matt McDole, chief engineer of the E-470 Public Highway Authority and E-470 Construction Manager Neil Thomson guided the project. Lawrence Construction Co. of Denver was the design-build contractor; DMJM Harris was the design engineer as a subcontractor to Lawrence.

URS assisted E-470 with project oversight. The project was made possible by an intergovernmental agreement between E-470, the city of Aurora and the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Highway 58 Interchange Improvements Complete

The Colorado Department of Transportation, along with officials from Jefferson County and the city of Wheat Ridge, celebrated completion of the Interstate 70/State Highway 58 interchange improvement project in December.

The project constructed, reconstructed or realigned five ramps to improve access, safety and the flow of traffic at the interchange:

• A new ramp from eastbound I-70 to westbound S.H. 58 was constructed;
• A new ramp from eastbound S.H. 58 to westbound I-70 was constructed;
• The existing ramp from eastbound S.H. 58 to eastbound I-70 was realigned and reconstructed without replacing the existing bridge;
• The existing ramp from westbound I-70 to S.H. 58 was realigned and reconstructed;
• The existing ramp from Youngfield Street to eastbound I-70 was relocated approximately one-quarter-mile to the south to accommodate a longer acceleration lane.

The original interchange at I-70 and S.H. 58 was constructed in 1968 and has since been operating without the ramps from eastbound I-70 to westbound S.H. 58 and from eastbound S.H. 58 to westbound I-70.

By constructing the missing ramps, the project reduces traffic on local arterials such as Youngfield Street, Ward Road, 32nd Avenue and Kipling Street. The realignment of three ramps is also critical to the safety at the interchange as the original ramps were also constructed in 1968 under old design standards. The realignment brings each ramp up to current design standards, making the ramps safer for the traveling public.

The $33-million project was funded through a variety of sources, including $9.4 million in federal earmarks, $10 million from Jefferson County and $13.6 million in federal and state dollars. The city of Wheat Ridge funded the $7-million 40th Avenue underpass project that was completed concurrently to expedite construction by using the same contractor, Ames Construction Inc.

The interchange improvement project began in February 2007 and was completed nearly three months ahead of schedule.

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