It will provide design engineering services for Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) along the Floyd Hill section of the I-70 Mountain Corridor, the main route from Denver to mountain resort areas.
Under the contract, the company will provide services to help improve travel times, trip reliability, resiliency and safety along the notoriously congested highway section that leads to some of Colorado’s most popular recreational destinations.
“The I-70 Mountain Corridor is vital to commuters who live and work in the mountain communities and essential for freight and transit in western destinations,” said George Nash, CEO of Atkins North America. “Leveraging our past experience on the recently completed Veterans Memorial Tunnels and Mountain Express Lanes projects, our team is well positioned to help CDOT create safer, more enjoyable travel with the successful completion of this project."
High-traffic volume on I-70 west of Denver has led to ever-increasing periods of slow traffic or gridlock. This section of I-70, known as Floyd Hill, can also be significantly affected by adverse weather conditions. Major elements of the project include replacing deficient infrastructure, adding a third westbound lane to increase highway capacity and implementing curve safety modifications to improve travel speeds, sight distance and reduce crashes. In addition to addressing resiliency and rockfall in the canyon, the project will provide a frontage road connection to improve emergency access and mobility during severe weather and facilitate efficient freight movement.
“The Floyd Hill area is a bottleneck that travellers tend to avoid,” said Brad Dennard, Atkins Department of Transportation business unit director. “Once this project is complete, it will alleviate 10 miles of congestion and an hour of travel time, making it a more enjoyable journey to some of the best places in Colorado.”
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