A public hearing for the I-70/Central Park Boulevard project was held on June 25, 2009 at the Radisson Hotel. A brief presentation about the project was given and comments were received from the public. In addition, comments on the Environmental Assessment (EA) were received through July 8, 2009.
On August 3, 2009, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) was signed by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). With the FONSI, CDOT and FHWA state that the EA has determined that the project need, environmental issues, impacts, and appropriate mitigation measures were adequately addressed and that the Preferred Alternative will have no significant impacts to the human or natural environment.
The EA and FONSI are available by clicking on the links below.
Link to EA
Link to FONSI
The signing of the FONSI started the final process to obligate American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for the Interchange project. On August 20, 2009, FHWA signed the Federal Aid Agreement that authorizes the use of funds identified for the project through congressional earmarks and an ARRA grant. With the federal funds obligated and the $30M of Better Denver Bond funds for the project, the City has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to the short listed contractors from the RFQ process. Through this RFP, the City, CDOT and FHWA will select a contractor to construct the project through the design build process.
Proposals are scheduled to be submitted by the Contractors in late October to the City, with a selection made in November of this year. Construction is anticipated to start in the first quarter of 2010 with an estimated 18 to 24 month construction duration.