Vail Pass Rest Area: What's new, when it's coming and what's changed

The top of Vail Pass along I-70 is home to one of the busiest winter recreation areas in one of the busiest national forests; therefore, you also get an incredibly busy rest stop area. Once the Colorado Department of Transportation realized its old rest area was in some serious need of repair, it got to work planning how to bring it into the modern age for drowsy drivers needing a break, people stuck in bad weather or simply those who need to use the restroom. 

The project, which was funded in 2018 and finally started construction in 2022, is expected to wrap structural construction come December, should the weather hold similar to last year. In addition to serious upgrades to the parking lot (more space, better grade for trucks driving up ice and snow) crews also have moved the forest service hut to the east side of the exit, created a bay for maintenance crews, and will have 6 bathrooms, as well as informational displays regarding the pass's long history in Colorado. 

"It's always been a transportation network from the beginnings with the Native American population to, you know, settlers through the 18 and 1900s," explained Hope Wright, real-estate asset manager. "Of course, with I-70 (too.) So we're telling that story of the transportation of its transportation history as well."

CDOT said the rest area saw 500,000 travelers a year. The project is a heavy financial lift, but CDOT said it's money that is being well spent. 

"We're at $24 million overall," Wright said. "That includes design and construction. Keep in mind, that also included a [$3.5 million] for the wastewater treatment plant, and then we had to also treat the water as we pull it from the creek. So that includes water treatment facilities and 10,000 gallons of water storage in the building as well."

Vail Pass is also frequented by people riding along the bike path, which has also been adjusted to keep bikes and cars as separate as possible and out of each others way. It's also accounting for the heavy snowmobile traffic the area sees in order to get people off the frontage road. 

"We were able to add separate parking for snowmobilers, so they'll have about 150-plus parking spaces all to themselves," Wright said. 

The challenge will be finishing the project before snow starts to fall. But with the end in sight, crews are motivated to get the job done and open for folks as soon as possible for a unique area along Colorado's mountain corridor. 

"Vail Pass rest area is unique because it serves both the traveling public in addition to many recreationalists," Wright said. "So the old one wasn't big enough; the building was in disrepair; it just needed to be replaced."