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A 17-mile stretch of Interstate 70 in Colorado has been closed indefinitely after a huge rock slide Monday.
State transportation officials said they did not know when the highway, closed in both directions between Glenwood and Dotsero, would be reopened due to extensive damage to the asphalt.
The Denver Post reported Tuesday that the stretch could be closed for weeks. In 2004, it took the state two days to open one lane each way after a similar slide and two months for the highway to be completely repaired, the paper reported.
That work cost $700,000 and the Colorado Department of Transportation estimated repairs this time would take a similar amount of time, the Post said.
Rocks are scattered over 100 yards and the largest weighs an estimated 66 tons, CDOT said in a statement, adding that crews are already blasting the biggest boulders..
CDOT offered the following detour information:
From Westbound I-70: Exit at US 40/Empire to State Highway 13 and back to I-70; exit in Silverthorne and take State Highway 9 to US 40 and State Highway 13; exit at Wolcott/State Highway 131 to US 40 and State Highway 13.
From Eastbound I-70: Exit at Rifle/State Highway 13 to US 40 and back to I-70.
Updates including detour information can be obtained at: www.coloradodot.info/news/media-room.html
By Michele Fuetsch
Staff Reporter
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