CDOT Closes I-70 On Tuesday For Rock Removal Project

GEORGETOWN, Colo. (AP/CBS4) - Colorado's main east-west highway will be shut down while crews blast through a cluster of boulders perched 300 feet above Interstate 70 at Georgetown Hill.

The Colorado Department of Transportation said Monday that a 25-mile stretch of I-70 will be closed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to remove boulders as big as pickup trucks. It's Colorado's most highly traveled rock-fall area.

The closure could extend to Wednesday if the work takes longer.

Five homes in the potential path of the rocks will be evacuated.

The Loveland Ski Area, just off I-70, is offering a free breakfast to customers who beat the lane closures. Vail Resorts will extend Keystone's operating hours and is offering lodging packages so customers don't lose the ski day.

The Colorado Department of Transportation released the following important details about the detour that will be put into place:

"Beginning at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 5, eastbound and westbound I-70 will be closed to through traffic between the U.S. 40/Empire (Exit 232) and Silverthorne (Exit 205) interchanges. ... Local traffic between Empire Junction and Georgetown and between Silverthorne and Silver Plume still will be allowed to travel I-70 up to the closure points."

"While I-70 is closed, the primary detour routes between the Front Range and the Western Slope are:

- I-70 to U.S. 40 (Empire Junction), U.S. 40 west over Berthoud Pass to Kremmling, and State Highway 9 south to I-70 in Silverthorne (73 miles)

- U.S. 285 southwest to Fairplay, State Highway 9 north over Hoosier Pass to I-70 in Frisco (101 miles)"

"For text and/or e-mail alerts about the project, and while work is underway, please visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the cell-phone icon in the upper right-hand corner. A link takes you to a list of items you can subscribe to, including I-70 West, Denver to Glenwood Springs. Updates also will be available by calling 511 or checking the Web site: www.coloradodot.info."

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