Rock slide closes major Colorado highway, forces 140 mile detour

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — A rock slide in a deep, narrow Colorado canyon has closed a major east-west highway, forcing drivers on a 140-mile detour until at least Thursday afternoon, according to state transportation officials.

A tractor-trailer was damaged, but no one was injured Monday when the rocks tumbled onto Interstate 70 about 125 miles east of the Utah border. The Colorado Department of Transportation shut down traffic in both directions along 24 miles of highway from Glenwood Springs to Gypsum.

“This is as big as I’ve seen,” said CDOT spokeswoman Tracy Trulove, who has been in her role for about two and half years.

Crews are expected to have the interstate clear by Thursday. But traffic could move slowly because pilot vehicles will lead drivers through the most damaged areas, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported.

A boulder the size of a small car crashed into the big rig’s trailer Monday, said Ron Milhorn, news director of KMTS radio in Glenwood Springs. The truck driver, Ray Hatch of Las Vegas, told Milhorn he saw the car in front of him disappear into a cloud of dust before his truck hit a boulder head-on. Hatch was calm and in good spirits after the crash, Milhorn told The Associated Press.

Vehicles that could turn around were escorted out of the canyon, Milhorn said.

Average daily traffic through the canyon is about 300 vehicles per hour, according to CDOT.

A helicopter took CDOT inspectors on a flight Tuesday to assess the risk of additional rock fall.