Colorado Department of Transportation Settled I-70 Project Disputes for $12.5M
A tentative $12.5 million settlement struck between the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Central 70 expansion project’s contracting team would resolve long-running cost disputes — while heading off the potential for substantial budget overruns.
Midway through the $1.2 billion Interstate 70 project, which broke ground in northeast Denver in mid-2018, the proposed agreement with Kiewit-Meridiam Partners marks the largest cost settlement to date. It would eat up most of the $20 million that remain in CDOT’s construction contingency fund for the project.
CDOT officials said Kiewit-Meridiam had sought much more — nearly $140 million, through a dozen or so main claims to cover delays and cost overruns. The deal, which still needs approval from a CDOT affiliate’s board in January, would resolve them all, keeping taxpayers off the hook for most of the extra costs.
But Kiewit-Meridiam would need to cover any remaining costs under its public-private partnership contract; a settlement provision gives it an avenue to do so.
