E-470 outlines widening plan as traffic rises and four plazas are planned
The toll road authority reports a 6.1% year-over-year increase in traffic as it targets six lanes across the corridor by 2030, advances the Gartrell Road bridge and plans four Applegreen service plazas.
E-470 is continuing a long-term plan to widen its 47-mile toll road as traffic rises, while construction advances on the Gartrell Road bridge in southeast Aurora and four new service plazas are planned along the corridor.
The authority says 34 miles of E-470, from Interstate 25 and C-470 to 104th Avenue, have been expanded to six lanes. It aims to widen the remaining corridor to six lanes by 2030, according to a presentation prepared for the Arapahoe County Board of County Commissioners.
E-470 reported 70.1 million transactions during the first part of 2026, a 6.1% increase from the same period a year earlier. The authority also reported an average of 81,000 daily drivers and 302,000 daily transactions, including a record 405,000 transactions on June 18.
E-470’s 2025 master plan projects a 79% increase in average traffic between 2023 and 2050 and says the widening program is intended to maintain a level of service of C or better. Those are projections, not measurements of the effects of completed widening.
Gartrell bridge construction
Construction is underway on the Gartrell Road bridge over E-470. The project will expand the existing two-lane bridge to four lanes, add turn lanes and improve connections for people walking and biking. Aurora says construction began in May 2026 and is expected to finish in July 2027.
The $10.8 million project is funded by the South Aurora Regional Improvement Authority and E-470, with the regional authority covering 80% and E-470 covering 20%, Aurora announced. During construction, South Gartrell Road is shifted and narrowed between East Dry Creek Road and South Aurora Parkway. The city has also warned of temporary single-lane E-470 closures for pile driving.
Four plazas planned
Applegreen plans to invest $70 million in four service plazas: one on the Parker southbound roadway, one on the Aurora northbound roadway and two in Commerce City. The authority says the plazas will include Exxon fuel, electric-vehicle fast charging, convenience stores, restaurants, restrooms and other travel amenities.
E-470’s targets are a late September 2026 opening for Parker, late October for Commerce City northbound, late December for Commerce City southbound and February 2027 for Aurora. The authority’s 2025 audited financial statements report that $17.6 million had been spent on the project through 2025, with another $12.3 million estimated for 2026. The audit describes the work as redeveloping three vacant mainline toll-plaza buildings into convenience-store and service-station facilities.