ENR Mountain States has chosen its regional Owners of the Year, two entities whose leadership and projects are transforming construction sectors and improving the lives of travelers and commuters. The winners were selected by a majority vote of ENR regional editors across the country.

In Colorado, Wyoming and the Dakotas, our choice for Owner of the Year is the Colorado Dept. of Transportation, and on the Intermountain side, ENR editors have selected the Idaho Transportation Dept.

CDOT

CDOT has more than $900 million in projects underway statewide this year. The agency’s current work includes:

  • The P3 megaproject Central 70 reconstructs a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 70 through central Denver.
  • The $350-million I-25 South Gap project in Douglas and El Paso counties, which widens 18 miles of I-25 from two to three lanes between Monument and Castle Rock south of Denver.
  • The $300-million I-25 North Express Lanes project in Weld and Larimer counties.
  • The $276-million C-470 Express Lanes Project, which widens 12.5 miles of C-470 between I-25 and Wadsworth Boulevard in southwest Denver.

The agency also launched two large projects in 2019:
• The $250-million I-25 North Express Lanes (Segment Six) in northern Colorado.
• The $70-million I-70 Westbound Peak Period Shoulder Lane project, which builds a 12-mile tolled peak-period shoulder lane in Clear Creek County.

The agency, led by its relatively new executive director, Shoshana M. Lew, who most recently was COO of the Rhode Island Dept. of Transportation, employs 3,000 people statewide, with an annual budget of nearly $2 billion.

CDOT also oversees the state’s Division of Aeronautics and the Division of Transit and Rail.

ITD

New projects undertaken by the Idaho Transportation Dept. are helping the state keep up with its 6.1% growth in population last year.

In addition to the recently completed multi-year reconstruction of I-90  between Northwest Boulevard and Sherman Avenue in Coeur d’Alene, ITD’s new work that started last year includes:

  • A $105.8-million highway expansion in the I-84 Corridor in Nampa, Idaho. The project adds a third travel lane on three miles of I-84 in both the east- and westbound directions, as well auxiliary lanes between three interchanges.
  • The $54.9-million US-95/ID-53 interchange project in Hayden, Idaho, which reconfigures several roadways near the current US-95 junction with ID-53.

ITD completed 32 bridge projects and improved 1,143 lane-miles of the state’s highway system in 2019. The agency also developed a new type of high-strength concrete to connect bridge girders for accelerated bridge construction work. The new concrete mix has already saved more than $100,000 on just one bridge project.

Watch for detailed profile stories on both these owners in the April issue of ENR Mountain States. Congrats to this year’s winners.