Vail frontage roads reopen to two-way traffic

Effective Wednesday, Nov. 16, crews are restoring the North and South Frontage Roads in Vail to two-way traffic, commencing a winter slowdown on the Colorado Department of Transportation and Town of Vail’s I-70 Vail Underpass project.

This project is building roundabouts on both the north and south frontage roads in Vail and an I-70 underpass between the West Vail and Main Vail interchanges. Crews anticipate opening the frontage roads to two-way traffic by the end of day.

Also beginning Wednesday, access to the Gore Creek Trail on the east end of the project site will reopen to pedestrians and bicyclists. Pedestrian sidewalks along the South Frontage Road will be installed in the spring, so pedestrians are advised to use the Gore Creek Trail until then. Along the North Frontage Road, the North Recreation Path will be open in its new at-grade alignment, adjacent to the North Frontage Road.

Additionally, Vail Transit service is returning to its normal operations — the West Vail Green Line service has resumed and the frequency of West Vail Red Line buses has returned to normal.

Motorists should be aware that when the North and South Frontage Roads reopen to two-way traffic, the area is still an active construction zone with reduced speed limits. The area beneath the underpass will remain closed to vehicles and pedestrians throughout the winter and Phase 4 of construction and will open when the project is complete at the end of November 2017.

There is the potential for minor work beneath the underpass during the winter, although no lane closures, night or weekend work is expected.

“We are certainly pleased with the amount of work that has been completed on the project. We’ve spent the last four months transforming the Vail frontage roads — excavating more than 70,000 cubic yards of dirt, lowering the road 15 feet, relocating 23,000 feet of utilities and constructing retaining walls to support the new underpass,” said Matt Figgs, CDOT Project Engineer. “While work is complete for the season and crews are packing up for the winter, there is still plenty of work to be done when we return in the spring.”

The one-way traffic configurations on the Frontage Roads that motorists have become familiar with over the last several months will again be implemented when construction resumes for Phase 4 in April 2017. When the project resumes, the focus will be building the underpass roundabouts. The area beneath the underpass also needs to be built, including brick pavers, curb and gutters, and lighting elements. In addition, crews will do final restoration work in 2017.

For updated project information, visit codot.gov/projects/i70vailunderpass, or call 970-685-7706. To receive real-time updates about road conditions in your area, visit www.codot.gov and click on the envelope icon in the lower right hand corner of the page. Information about weekly lane closures will be available at www.coloradodot.info/travel/scheduled-lane-closures.html.

Live road conditions are available at www.cotrip.org, downloading the CDOT Mobile app or by calling 511 from anywhere in the state. Updates are also available via Twitter @coloradodot and be sure to “Like” our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/coloradodot.

The I-70 Vail Underpass project will add an additional underpass near I-70 mile point 175, connecting the North and South Frontage Roads between the Vail Town Center and West Vail interchanges. The project does not construct additional I-70 exits/interchanges into the Town of Vail. The project is scheduled for completion in November 2017.