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I-70 Through Glenwood Canyon Fully Reopens After Rock Slide

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (AP/CBS4) - All lanes of a scenic stretch of Colorado highway have reopened nearly two months after a large rock slide first blocked them, the Colorado Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday.

Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon, about 135 miles west of Denver, reopened Wednesday. The state says the $5 million worth of emergency work was completed 23 days ahead of schedule.

Glenwood Canyon Rock Slide
(credit: CDOT)
Glenwood Canyon Rock Slide
(credit: CDOT)

"This was a tremendous team effort from the contractor and subcontractors as well at CDOT staff and our GeoHazards program to complete the damage repairs and rock scaling to get the interstate open ahead of schedule," Regional Transportation Director Dave Eller said in a statement. "I'm really proud of this team, from the original incident response by CDOT maintenance to the assistance that was provided to us by local law enforcement as we made tough decisions about how to get traffic moving again after the initial rockfall incident."

CDOT Glenwood Canyon rockslide tuesday day pic1
(credit: CDOT)

Boulders the size of small cars came tumbling onto the highway along the Colorado River on Feb. 15. A tractor-trailer was damaged but no one was hurt.

The slide kept all four lanes on two levels of the interstate closed for a nearly a week, sending drivers on detours of up to four hours. In the following weeks, some lanes were open to traffic while the road was repaired and rocks were removed from canyon walls.

Additional Information From CDOT

RECREATIONAL IMPACTS: Glenwood Canyon bike path is open from Glenwood Springs to Shoshone on the west end and from Silom Springs to Hanging Lake rest area from the east end. With the repairs complete to the damaged area of the bike path, CDOT crews will work to get the Shoshone to Hanging Lake rest area section of path open by this weekend. Please be aware that as water levels begin to rise on the Colorado River sections of the bike path can be closed.  Please visit our website at www.COTRIP.org for updates on the path.

PROJECT INFORMATION: To sign up for CDOT updates on projects in your chosen area, visit CDOT's website at www.codot.gov and choose the envelope icon at the bottom of the page. Or, to see CDOT's lane closure reports for projects statewide, visit www.codot.gov/travel/scheduled-lane-closures.html. Updates are also available via Twitter @coloradodot and be sure to "Like" us on Facebook.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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