E-470

E-470 provides an alternate north–south route to Interstate 25 (I-25) for travelers wishing to bypass Denver to the east. The tollway begins at the I-25/State Highway 470 (SH 470, C-470) interchange in Lone Tree and runs east through the unincorporated community of Meridian and south of the Centennial Airport. It then passes through the north side of Parker, interchanging with SH 83 (Parker Road) before continuing east to Southlands, an outdoor mall in southeast Aurora. It then turns north through Aurora, passing east of Buckley Space Force Base before interchanging with I-70, forming a fly-by interchange. The highway continues north, passing west of Denver International Airport and interchanging with Peña Boulevard at a full cloverleaf interchange to provide access to the airport. E-470 then continues north and then turns to the west, entering the outskirts of Brighton and interchanging with I-76 and then U.S. Highway 85 (US 85) near the unincorporated community of Henderson before reaching the northern end at the interchange with I-25, where the toll road continues west as Northwest Parkway north of Thornton.

The quasi-government entity that manages the highway, the E-470 Public Highway Authority, consists of eight member jurisdictions: Adams, Arapahoe, and Douglas counties and the cities of Aurora, Brighton, Commerce City, and Thornton and the town of Parker. In addition to all of these jurisdictions, E-470 also passes through the city and county of Denver near Denver International Airport. Affiliate, nonvoting members of the Authority, which the highway does not directly serve, are the cities of Arvada, Lone Tree, and Greeley; Weld County; and the city and county of Broomfield. Ex officio members are the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), the Regional Air Quality Council, and the Regional Transportation District (RTD). The authority is headquartered in Aurora.

The toll rate on E-470 for vehicles that do not have ExpressToll automated toll transponders is roughly $0.37 per mile ($0.23/km). In addition to 19 ramp toll interchanges, there are five mainline toll gantries along the 47-mile (76 km) route and the non-discounted passenger car toll to pass each mainline station is either $4.15 or $4.50; the discounted rates are $2.70 or $2.95.^[4] Drivers with ExpressToll accounts, E-470's automated toll collection service, and transponders mounted on their vehicle save 20 percent on posted toll rates along E-470.^[5] The toll stations no longer accept cash; E-470 was one of the first highways in the US to implement full highway-speed electronic tolling.^[6] Regarding License Plate Toll (for vehicles without ExpressToll transponders), cameras at each station photograph the front and rear license plate of each vehicle. A bill is mailed after approximately 30 days to the registered owner of the vehicle in accordance with state law.^[7]

Rental car companies at Denver International Airport have been accused of overcharging unwitting visitors for unpaid tolls because of the road's cashless collection system.^[8]

ExpressToll is also part of the Central United States Interoperability Hub. Toll roads included are the Kansas Turnpike (via K-TAG), the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority system via Pikepass, the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) system via TollTag and the TxTag system, the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) system in Houston via EZ TAG, and the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) system via SunPass.

Toll tags accepted on E470 include: ExpressToll, EZ-TAG, TollTag, TxTag, K-TAG, Pikepass, and SunPass. With no compatible toll tag, drivers can be billed the higher license plate toll rate.^[9]

E-470 is the eastern portion of what was originally planned as Interstate 470 (I-470), a full outer beltway for the Denver metropolitan area proposed by CDOT in the 1960s. After the completion of SH 470, plans for the eastern extension gained momentum in the 1980s, as Denver moved forward with plans for a new international airport in its corridor. Recognizing the highway's development potential, a number of local governments joined to create the E-470 Public Highway Authority, a quasi-governmental entity that would construct the highway. In 1987, the Public Highway Authority Law was passed by the Colorado State Legislature, giving the E-470 Public Highway Authority the power to do everything needed to plan, design, finance, construct, and operate the toll highway.^[10][11] The highway would be financed through tolls, a relative rarity in the western US.

The first section, between I-25 in the south and Parker Road in Douglas County, opened to traffic June 1, 1991. Tolling began on July 15, making E-470 the first highway in the US to implement open road electronic tolling.^[12] The highway was opened segment by segment until the final stretch connecting to I-25 in the north in Adams County opened on January 3, 2003.^[13]

In its early years, traffic was light as the completed portion was short and traversed a largely undeveloped area. With the opening of Denver International Airport in 1995, E-470 came in as a direct route to the airport from the rapidly growing southern tier of the metropolitan area. Upon its completion, the highway provided the same access for northern Colorado, itself a high-growth area. However, perhaps the most significant growth in the region will occur in the E-470 corridor itself, which spawned numerous annexations by member cities; Commerce City has doubled in land area in anticipation of this new development. In the coming decades, 250,000 new residents are expected along the E-470 corridor in Aurora alone, which would nearly double that city's population.

Up until 2006, E-470 had four signalized intersections with I-70 and its outer roads, which often got congested at peak hours. In 2006, the E-470 mainline was relocated about one-quarter mile (0.40 km) to the west to bypass the traffic signals and provide free-flowing conditions for toll customers. Ramp traffic accessing I-70 continues to use the signalized interchange, except for northbound E-470 to westbound I-70 traffic, which uses a flyover ramp. The I-70/E-470 Fly-By Interchange Complex in Aurora was recognized by the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) with a National Design Build Award in 2008.

In November 2014, an additional interchange opened at Quebec Street in Thornton.^[14]

In April 2016, E-470 started construction work to widen an eight-mile (13 km) stretch of the toll road to three lanes in each direction between Parker Road and Quincy Avenue in southeastern Aurora. The $90-million (equivalent to $113 million in 2024^[15]) project was completed December 2017.^[16] According to the 2015 E-470 Annual Report (page 3), "The widening is being constructed now to get ahead of the curve on future traffic volume, which has had double-digit growth in each of the past three years."

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