The eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon are expected to be opened briefly around midday Tuesday after the Colorado Department of Transportation closed the road due to an early morning rockslide just west of Grizzly Creek.
CDOT and Colorado State Patrol hope to open both lanes headed east to allow traffic through, but the westbound lanes will remain closed.
CDOT spokeswoman Tracy Trulove said the maintenance crews and boulder blasting teams will be scaling the slope to reduce the loose rock on the hillside. During the scaling operations, CDOT will close both directions of I-70 for several hours.
“Unfortunately, for westbound travel that side of the highway is going to remain closed while the crane positioned and do more rock scaling,” Trulove said.
CDOT hopes to reopen eastbound lanes and one lane westbound by this evening, Trulove said.
Around 200-250 cubic yards of debris fell onto the upper deck of the I-70, Trulove said. No cars were involved in the rockfall, but the boulders did damage the guardrail. The damage to the road itself was minimal, Trulove said.
CDOT first reported the rockslide on Twitter around 1 a.m.
The debris amounts to around 30 dump truck loads that will have to be removed, Trulove said.
Most traffic is being diverted to Highway 13 from Rifle, then through Steamboat Springs via U.S. 40.
Colorado State Patrol advises that Independence Pass on State Highway 82 and the back road headed over Cottonwood Pass are closed for the winter, and are not an option. There is a chain advisory on south Highway 133 over McClure pass.
Complicating the detour routes is a forecast of bad weather in the northwestern part of the state. CDOT is implementing surge resources to plow and keep the roads clear, but Trulove urged travelers to be patient.
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“It’s going to be slow going. We know that’s not the best-case scenario when you’re trying to get somewhere, but we encourage people to be patient and take it slow,” Trulove said.
Rainfall and fluctuating temperatures increase the risk of rockslides, particularly in the canyon section west of the Hanging Lake Tunnel. A major rockslide on Feb. 15, 2016 shut down the interstate for about a week and caused lengthy detours north via U.S. 40 and south along U.S. 50.
The canyon was open to one lane only in both directions after six days, but using a pilot car to guide traffic in alternating fashion for several weeks. I-70 through the canyon was not fully reopened until the middle of April that year, after some $5 million in emergency repairs.
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