Skip to main content

Engineering firm unveils I-70 improvement project

International engineering firm Parsons Corp has unveiled its proposed US$3.5 billion project to ease traffic on Interstate 70 through the central mountains in Eagle County, Colorado. Parsons had submitted an unsolicited proposal to Colorado Department of Transportation in 2011. The three-phase project would include tolled express lanes and a bus rapid transit system and be completed as soon as 2021. The express lanes would be reversible to accommodate peak traffic flows to and from the mountains. The proje
July 29, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
International engineering firm 4089 Parsons Corp has unveiled its proposed US$3.5 billion project to ease traffic on Interstate 70 through the central mountains in Eagle County, Colorado.  Parsons had submitted an unsolicited proposal to 5701 Colorado Department of Transportation in 2011.
 
The three-phase project would include tolled express lanes and a bus rapid transit system and be completed as soon as 2021.
 
The express lanes would be reversible to accommodate peak traffic flows to and from the mountains. The project would also straighten some curves on the interstate and resurface the existing lanes.
 
Tunnel bores would have to be added at places such as the Eisenhower Tunnel, and parts of the new lanes would be suspended like the current highway is through Glenwood Canyon.
 
"This is a very, very aggressive schedule," said Jim Bemelen, Parsons' mountain corridor manager. "It's unlikely, but the project could be completed by 2021."
 
"We are very concerned about minimising the footprint as much as possible," said Ralph Trapani, Parsons program director.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ATA, NATSO, commend long term highway bill
    October 26, 2015
    The American Trucking Association (ATA) and NATSO, the national association representing truck-stops and travel plazas have commended the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for passing the long-term Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (STRRA), with some concerns. ATA president and CEO Bill Graves urged House leaders to take the next step quickly, saying, “While we're anxious to see the funding portion of the bill, the roadmap laid out by this legislation is a good
  • Tolling is a ‘powerful tool to maintain and manage an infrastructure network’
    August 15, 2017
    Officials have recently moved to scrap tolls on several highways for the first time in 40 years, bucking a national trend toward more tolls on mostly urban roadways to shift the costs of transportation to those who use the roads, writes Associated Press. A regional authority voted this week to eliminate tolls on the Cesar Chavez Border Highway in El Paso. On the same day, Dallas city council rejected plans to build a toll road along the Trinity River. The council's action appears to be the death knell for a
  • US eyes European model for Illinois toll road upgrade
    May 30, 2014
    David Crawford welcomes the adoption of European-style ITS technology by the US. The Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in Illinois, US is well on the way towards becoming a ‘smart traffic corridor’, taking full advantage of active traffic management (ATM or ‘managed lanes’) technology that originated in Europe. It is one of the first American toll roads to do so; preliminary work began in 2014 and will continue through to 2016. Jane Addams is one of four toll roads operated by the publicly-owned Illinois State T
  • E-tolling is the new normal
    April 29, 2020
    Electronic tolling has become a cornerstone for the next wave of innovation, says IBTTA’s Bill Cramer. So is this the end of the road for toll plazas?