Procurement for the high-profile I-70 East project is on schedule following the Request for Proposals (RFP) the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) recently issued, allowing the four teams shortlisted in July to begin drafting their proposals for the design, build, financing, operation and maintenance of the $1.8 billion toll road.
According to a statement released by CDOT and the High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE), which are procuring the project, the RFP process will produce several drafts over an estimated eight-month period.
The drafts will be made available to the four shortlisted teams – Plenary Group/Skanska; Kiewit/Meridiam Partners; ACS Infrastructure and John Laing; and Cintra Infraestructuras/Bechtel – as well as the public.
“The public release of the RFQ [Request for Qualifications] and RFP drafts continue the implementation of the Transparency Policy adopted by HPTE in July 2014, which incorporates an Executive Order from Governor John Hickenlooper directing CDOT to expand the transparency and public participation in future public-private partnerships,” the two agencies said in their joint statement.
The I-70 project, described as a critical artery for Colorado, involves replacing the 50-year old I-70 East viaduct, expanding a 12-mile segment of the highway by adding two managed lanes – one in each direction – and reconstructing a portion of the road as well as building a landscape ‘cover’ above one segment of the reconstructed highway.
CDOT expects to select a preferred bidder in the fall of 2016.
Running east to west and spanning 2,151 miles across 10 states, the I-70 was built between 1956 and 1965.