Portal:U.S. roads/Selected article/March 2008



In the U.S. state of Colorado, Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway traversing an east–west route across the center of the state. The highway connects the metropolitan areas of Denver and Grand Junction via a route through the Rocky Mountains. The Colorado portion of I-70 is noted for the Eisenhower Tunnel. With an elevation of 11158 ft this tunnel was, at the time of construction, the highest vehicular tunnel in the world, and is the highest point along the Interstate Highway System. The Glenwood Canyon portion of the freeway is also noted as an engineering marvel. It is one of the last pieces of the Interstate Highway system to be completed on October 14, 1992. As of the date of its completion, this section had the most expensive construction cost per mile of any highway in the U.S. The construction achievement earned 30 awards for the Colorado Department of Transportation, including the 1993 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

In addition to the engineering achievements required to construct the freeway, the construction unintentionally became noted as an event in the feminist movement. The Colorado portion of I-70 was built parallel to U.S. Route 40 east of Idaho Springs, Colorado. West of Idaho Springs I-70 was built along the corridor of a road that was numbered U.S. Route 6 at the time of I-70's construction.

Recently selected: Oklahoma State Highway 74* Interstate 355* New York State Route 9A