I-70 Closed In Glenwood Canyon Due To Rock Slides Until Thursday At The Earliest
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - Interstate 70 will be closed through Glenwood Canyon until Thursday at the earliest after two separate rock slides.
The extended closure went into effect overnight after the second of the two slides happened at mile point 124.2. That's eight miles east of Glenwood Springs and just west of Hanging Lake Tunnel.
"It could be a long-time closure," Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Amy Ford said on Tuesday, later adding that it would be closed until at least Thursday.
The first slide happened early Monday morning and only led to lane closures on the highway through the canyon. After the second slide just after 9 p.m. officials shut down the highway in both directions from Dotsero to Glenwood Springs.
"There are a couple of holes through the deck … boulders made it all the way over to the eastbound lanes, so both directions have some damage," Tracy Trulove with CDOT said at the scene. "This is a big one. I'd say that the rocks we have on the road; we haven't even been able to move the ones up here on the west deck to see what kind of damage might have happened to the highway."
Highway 50 and Highway 40 were suggested as alternative routes by the CDOT. That forces drivers to endure a 140 mile detour. Some GPS systems suggest Independence Pass as a detour, but that road is in fact closed for the season.
No one was hurt in any of the slides, but two trucks were damaged.
"We are very lucky that the driver of the semi-truck left without injuries," the CDOT official said.
CBS4 reporter Matt Kroschel was allowed into the canyon during the daylight hours on Tuesday to view the work crews are doing to mitigate the danger, which includes using a helicopter to analyze the risk or more slides.
"I look up the hillside and can see just little specks, those are CDOT workers up there checking some of the rocks that are still falling down," Kroschel said at noon.
"On the highway surface it is a mess. The side wall is completely gone on the eastbound lanes. The westbound lanes also have significant damage and the rocks are still here."
Crews are using explosives to break the large boulders up so they can be removed. CDOT will then have to figure out how long it will take to make repairs to the road.
Additional Resources
Read a news release from CDOT that includes more information on the closure, travel impacts and alternate routes.
