Portions of eastbound Interstate 70 from Brighton Boulevard to Interstate 270 will be closed beginning on July 16 as work on the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Central 70 Project continues.

Construction crews will work around the clock, finishing final paving operations from 10 p.m. July 16 through 5 a.m. July 19, officials said. 

Motorists will be detoured north onto Interstate 25 to Interstate 270 and will eventually merge back onto I-70, the agency said. 

Workers are constructing a new 3-mile stretch of the interstate between Colorado Boulevard and Quebec Street.

Project director Bob Hays said the closures will be safer than other alternatives.

“In addition, by conducting these full weekend closures we will be able to finish paving and other construction activities in this area several weeks early providing relief to both motorists and businesses,” Hays said.

One final closure is planned between July 23 and 26 to pave the westbound lanes of the interstate. 

The Central 70 project is a $1.2 billion project that broke ground in 2018 and will reconstruct a 10-mile portion of I-70, while also adding an Express lane in each direction, remove a nearly 60-year-old viaduct and lower the road between Brighton and Colorado Boulevards. 

Officials anticipate traffic modifications will reach their final stages by late 2022, but landscaping, installation of park elements and additional work will continue through 2023.