 When first approved , the extension of I @-@ 70 from Denver to Cove Fort was criticized in some area newspapers as a road to nowhere ; an information liaison specialist with the U.S. Department of Transportation in Baltimore , Maryland — the eastern terminus of I @-@ 70 — claims people have asked " did we think Baltimoreans were so desperate to get to Cove Fort that we were willing to pay $ 4 billion to get them there ? " However , a resident engineer with the USDOT has called the extension one of the " crown jewels " of the Interstate Highway System . In Colorado , the freeway helped unite the state , despite the two halves being separated by the formidable Rocky Mountains . The Eisenhower Tunnel alone is credited with saving up to an hour from the drive across the state . Prior to I @-@ 70 's construction , the highway through Glenwood Canyon was one of the most dangerous in the state . With the improvements , the accident rate has dropped 40 % even though traffic through the canyon has substantially increased . The Colorado Department of Transportation is considering the nomination of various portions of I @-@ 70 as a National Historic Landmark , even though the freeway will not qualify as historical for several decades . 
