‘Unlike anything they had seen before,’ officials say of I-70 damage in Colorado
The damage left behind from mudslides on Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon in western Colorado is described as “unlike anything they had seen before,” Colorado Department of Transportation officials said.
The mudslides occurred amid heavy rains Saturday that left debris over traffic lanes and into the adjacent Colorado River, leading to flooding and piles of rocks, mud, logs and more on the roadway.
I-70 through Glenwood Canyon will continue to be closed due to “extreme damage” from the latest round of heavy rain and flooding on July 31, 2021.
Flash flooding has repeatedly happened this summer over the Grizzly Creek fire burn scar in Glenwood Canyon, forcing debris to be pushed onto the road and leading to safety closures to traffic.
Senior operations supervisors and engineering staff of Colorado Department of Transportation say the damage seen Sunday is extreme and “unlike anything they had seen before.”
I-70 through Glenwood Canyon will continue to be closed due to “extreme damage” from the latest round of heavy rain and flooding on July 31, 2021.
The damage to the viaduct structure of I-70 will continue to be assessed by CDOT crews as the weather allows. Crews are also “aggressively working” to clear the debris. As of late Saturday, crews managed to take 135 truck loads of mud from the road.
Motorists can use the following alternate routes:
Northern route: Interstate 70 to Colorado Highway 9 to U.S. Highway 40 and to Colorado Highway 13.
Westbound motorists from the Denver metro area should exit Interstate70 at Exit 205 (Silverthorne) and travel north on Colorado Highway 9 towards Kremmling, the continue west on U.S. Highway 40 and south on CO-13 where they return to westbound I-70 at Rifle (Exit 90). (Eastbound travelers detour using the route in reverse).
Click here to visit CDOT’s Travel Center for updated road closures and conditions.
I-70 through Glenwood Canyon will continue to be closed due to “extreme damage” from the latest round of heavy rain and flooding on July 31, 2021.
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