Two women suffered minor injuries Sunday after a rockslide hit Interstate 70 in western Colorado — in DeBeque Canyon — forcing closure of I-70 eastbound lanes.
“We’re not sure if the rocks hit them, or if they hit rocks that were on the road,” Colorado State Patrol spokesman Ivan Alvarado said. “Because of the canyon, our dispatchers were having a hard time communicating.”
Colorado Department of Transportation officials said it was unclear how much rock fell onto I-70 but some stones appeared larger than bowling balls. Rocks pounded holes in I-70 that may have to be plugged and patched.
“This time of year, you start getting warming temperatures. Ice has been expanding. Now it is melting away. That creates pockets. Stuff starts falling,” Hill said. “We’ll be checking it out tomorrow. It is going to take a least a couple days to fix.”
CDOT officials issued a “traffic alert” Sunday afternoon and another bulletin Sunday night saying they anticipated “an extended closure” of eastbound I-70 — “at least through tomorrow.”
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