Construction Begins on Central City Highway

This fall the Central City Business Improvement District celebrated the construction start of the new $38.3 million Central City highway.

When finished next fall, the four-lane road will provide a quick, easy and scenic transportation option for drivers traveling to Central City and other historic mountain communities. The highway will be an 8.4-mile, four-lane highway from the Hidden Valley exit at I-70 straight into downtown Central City. The roadway will have a total paved width of 64 ft, including eight-ft wide shoulders on each side, and locations along the road for scenic pullouts. The maximum grade along the roadway is eight percent, similar to the grade on the eastbound frontage road of I-70 at Floyd Hill.

Estimated to take only 12 minutes from its I-70 exit into Central City during good weather, the new Central City highway has been designed to accommodate every type of visitor to the area. In addition to providing a modern, quick road for gaming patrons, the highway will also be a scenic route for tourists and skiers to travel to the local mountain communities.

The road is being constructed by the design-build team of Ames Construction and HNTB Companies. Previous Ames projects include initial construction at DIA, DIA taxiways, Highway 285 improvements and many other highway, railroad and airport construction projects across the country. One of HNTB's best-known Colorado projects is its engineering of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon.