The closure of Interstate 70 is expected to last through the weekend, the Colorado Department of Transportation said, as efforts Thursday night and Friday emphasized rescuing roughly 108 motorists stranded overnight in Glenwood Canyon by debris.
The closure shut down exits 87 (West Rifle), 109 (Canyon Creek), 116 (Glenwood Springs) and 133 (Dotsero), after debris flowed onto the highway in around ten different places.
Debris trapped around 29 people inside a tunnel Thursday evening before full closures were implemented, Garfield County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook. In all, 108 motorists throughout Glenwood Canyon had to be evacuated or moved to a safe location due to debris flows.
The sheriff’s office, Glenwood Fire Department, Colorado Department of Transportation crews and a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority bus rescued those stuck in the tunnel Friday morning. The bus transported several people to the recreation center and some drivers were able to follow the bus out with their vehicles, the post said.
Some of the 108 motorists, including between 60-75 hunkered down in the Bair Ranch rest area, had to wait until around Friday afternoon to be evacuated from safe areas in the canyon, because of debris that had closed those areas off.
Those people were trapped when I-70 was closed for a second flash flood warning at around 9 p.m., prompting questions about whether the highway should have been reopened at all.
“Sometimes the warning comes about the same time as the water does, and that unfortunately is what happened,” Region 3 Director Mike Goolsby said. “Unfortunately this snuck up on all of us.”
At least three vehicles were trapped by debris, and had to be left in the canyon.
Debris spilled onto the interstate in roughly ten different locations, state transportation officials said, and in at least one case broke through a parapet wall as it thundered down the canyon. The debris flows ranged in size, with some as wide as 150 feet and as deep as 12 feet. Some of the debris flows contained trees and large rocks.
The agency discouraged drivers from using navigation apps to find alternate routes, but instead urged drivers to use the agency's recommended detour.
Alternative route during Interstate 70 closures.
Because of the workload the transportation department’s patrols in Grand Junction have faced over the summer, heavy equipment and additional personnel are being pulled from around the state to help reopen I-70 in Glenwood Canyon.
“It is an all-hands-on-deck disaster, if you will, so we are providing all the resources we can,” John Lorme, deputy director of maintenance and operations, said.
Closures have plagued portions of I-70 in Glenwood Canyon in recent weeks, with the same section being closed between July 22 and Sunday.
Weather played a major role in the closures as the National Weather Service issued several watches and warnings in the area. Additionally, heavy rain around the Grizzly Creek fire burn scar triggered mudslides and debris flows.
With forecasts in the area calling for weekend rain that could pull more debris down the canyon, transportation officials were loathe to give an estimate on when I-70 would be reopened.
“We’re gonna shoot for Monday, if not sooner, but if the weather doesn’t cooperate and brings more material down it could be extended past that,” Goolsby said.
Check updates at cotrip.org, the agency's Twitter page and by dialing 511.
David Mullen and Esteban Candelaria contributed to this report.
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