YOUR AD HERE »

I-70 closure begins funneling traffic through Grand County

Special to the Sky-Hi News
Grand County, CO Colorado
Photo courtesy of CDOTThis CDOT photo illustration shows the potential path of the boulders and where they could land below on the interstate and in Georgetown.
ALL |

The Colorado Departmnent of Transportation has closed a portion of I-70 as scheduled today. One of the detours is expected to produce a noticeable increase in traffic on U.S. Highway 40 and Highway 9 through Grand County.

According to a CDOT statement, the project will take place as follows:

“On Tuesday, April 5, eastbound and westbound I-70 will be closed to through traffic between the U.S. 40/Empire (Exit 232) and Silverthorne (Exit 205) interchanges, allowing crews to safely bring down a large, unstable cluster of boulders located on the slope above the highway.



“Local traffic between Empire Junction and Georgetown (westbound) and between Silverthorne and Silver Plume (eastbound) still will be allowed to travel I-70 up to the closure points, closer to the rockfall site. Due the number of boulders that need to be removed, the highway is expected to remain closed until 5 p.m.

“If the mitigation is not completed on Tuesday, CDOT will need to close I-70 again from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6. In addition, CDOT may need to also repair any fencing or netting that is damaged from the falling rock and debris.



“CDOT, in coordination with the Georgetown Police Department, is asking residents who live below the potential path areas to evacuate their homes while removal operations are taking place for their safety. There are about five homes that have been identified as being in the area where rocks have the potential to land.”


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

The Sky-Hi News strives to deliver powerful stories that spark emotion and focus on the place we live.

Over the past year, contributions from readers like you helped to fund some of our most important reporting, including coverage of the East Troublesome Fire.

If you value local journalism, consider making a contribution to our newsroom in support of the work we do.