The private contractor hired by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) for the $1.2 billion expansion of I-70 through north Denver also will be required to hire locally.
CDOT’s contract will include a clause that 20% of the project’s work force, the equivalent of about 350 people, must be hired from the 15 neighborhoods adjacent to I-70 in Denver and Aurora. Construction on the project is slated to begin next year, and CDOT is expected to select a contractor this summer.
CDOT got permission for the pilot program last year from the U.S. Department of Transportation. It was one of nine transportation agencies nationwide to receive permission for such a pilot program.
Gary Community Investments has partnered with CDOT and is investing more than $1 million in job training and support programs for the Central 70 project.
The neighborhood career training and resource center will offer six courses with a flexible schedule for job training. It also will have job fairs for construction careers, access to CDOT’s job listings for maintenance workers and, starting in 2018, information about jobs on the Central 70 project.
The project includes expanding I-70 between I-25 and I-225, and sinking a portion of it between Brighton and Colorado boulevards. A four-acre park will be built as a "lid" over the lowered highway near the Swansea Elementary School. The project also includes adding new express toll lanes to the highway and removing the 50-year-old viaduct in north Denver.
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Source: Denver Business Journal
