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Friday, March 29, 2024

I-70 in Colorado closed after two rockslides

A pair of rockslide incidents has closed a portion of Interstate 70 in northwestern Colorado indefinitely, according to the Colorado State Department of Transportation. As of Tuesday, the interstate is closed in both directions.

A portion of I-70 in Garfield County near Glenwood Canyon at mile point 124.2, directly west of the Hanging Lake Tunnel was closed due to an early morning rock fall incident on Monday, the state DOT said. A second rockslide Monday night shut the entire stretch of interstate in the canyon down indefinitely.

A portion of Interstate 70 near Glenwood Canyon is closed indefinitely following a pair of rockslide events that occurred on Monday, Feb. 16.

One semi-truck was caught in the slide last night and disabled, however no injuries were reported. The Colorado State Patrol assisted with clearing any remaining semi-trucks that were stuck in the canyon on Tuesday morning. The release stated all passenger vehicles were cleared out Monday night.

CDOT said its geohazards team is on site and evaluating the location. The agency is assessing roadway, retaining wall, bridge and guardrail damage. The information is expected to be reported in a later release.

The average daily traffic for Glenwood Canyon is around 300 vehicles per hour.

The release stated that it is undetermined when the interstate will reopen. The detour is roughly 203 miles and is expected to add nearly four hours to westbound motorists’ commutes.

Per the agency, the alternate route for westbound motorists is north on CO 131 at Wolcott to Steamboat Springs, west on US 40 to Craig, then south on CO 13 to Rifle and back to I-70.

This is a 203-mile alternate route that will take about three hours and 50 minutes to travel. This detour adds 146 miles and about three hours to a regular trip from Wolcott to Rifle on I-70, which is 67 miles or about 45 minutes.

Additional traffic and road condition information can be found at www.CoTrip.org.