Long-planned improvements and upgrades to Colorado’s famous Eisenhower Tunnel may be in the offing if members of the state legislature approve up to $170 million in transportation infrastructure funding.
Officially known as the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, the throughway is named in honor of President Dwight Eisenhower, who advanced the country’s Interstate Highway System in the late 1950s, and Colorado Senator Edwin C. Johnson, who pushed to get the Intestate 70 built in Colorado.
Widely regarded as a feat of modern engineering, the two lanes of the of the 60 mile-long tunnel under the Continental Divide heading west was opened in 1973, to be followed six years later by two lanes going in the other direction.
In the years since, the tunnel has become one of the most used passages of its kind in the West. Annual traffic has increased from around 10 million vehicles two decades ago to 13.1 million in 2019.
With the traffic has come a wearing down of the structure, with Colorado Department of Transportation officials noting that the two tunnels are in need of plumbing and electrical system overhauls, ventilation system improvements, and ground water leak repairs, among other things.
It is thought that the tunnel work could easily exceed $150 million of the $170 million in transportation work project funding the Colorado legislature is currently weighing.
The legislature will be in session until May 12.
By Garry Boulard
