Early on May 24, a portion of Interstate 70 that had just undergone what was dubbed the Mile High Shift reopened six lanes (three eastbound, three westbound) to travelers after a full weekend closure. Shortly thereafter, traffic slowed to a crawl on either side of a 900-foot section of roadway between Columbine and Clayton streets in which drivers pass under a newly installed cover an area that doesn t officially qualify as a tunnel, even though signage uses that very word.
It s not as if we weren t warned that this could happen. In a preview of the Mile High Shift, Stacia Sellers, spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Transportation, acknowledged that with the new lowered lanes, we think there ll probably be a one-to-two-week learning curve for drivers that would almost certainly result in more delays and greater congestion over that span, particularly during high-volume periods.
Mile High Shift: Central I-70 reopens Monday as traffic shifts to new lanes
KMGH
and last updated 2021-05-23 20:27:37-04
DENVER â The weekend long closure of Interstate 70 in Denver will make way for the Mile High Shift come Monday morning.
Both directions of travel on I-70 through parts of the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood in north Denver will be shifted onto the completed westbound lanes of the lowered section. The shift begins at 5 a.m. Monday.
But in the meantime, the interstate is closed from Washington Street to I-270. Eastbound traffic is being diverted to I-25 north to I-76 east and then onto I-270 south. Westbound traffic is being diverted onto I-270 north to I-76 west and then onto I-25 south.
Changes, closures coming soon to I-70 in Denver for CDOT s Mile High Shift project
Denver7 Traffic Expert Jayson Luber takes a deep look at the new tunnel on the I-70 project, what the driver experience will look like, and how the reconfigured viaduct will look and feel.
By: Stephanie Butzer
and last updated 2021-05-21 10:02:09-04
New traffic changes begin next week as the Colorado Department of Transportation kicks off its Mile High Shift project, which will move both directions of Interstate 70 between Brighton Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard off of the viaduct and lower it under a cover park.
Jayson Luber/Denver7
and last updated 2021-05-11 14:11:27-04
New traffic changes begin next week as the Colorado Department of Transportation kicks off its Mile High Shift project, which will move both directions of Interstate 70 between Brighton Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard off of the viaduct and lower it under a cover park.
Jayson Luber/Denver7
This traffic change, called the Mile High Shift project, will allow crews to demolish the structurally deficient viaduct, which was built 57 years ago. All current lanes of I-70 will move to the future westbound lanes of the lowered section as early as late this month. Both directions of traffic will stay in the westbound lanes for about 18 months, when the eastbound lanes of I-70 are expected to be completed, CDOT said.