Colorado Glenwood Canyon Closed By Rock Slide

[Don in Morrison]

The trip from Denver to Aspen just got really long. Good thing the gathering isn't this week. They say it will be open Thursday but there will be some sections that will need to be rebuilt because of the damage.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29522393/rock-slide-near-glenwood-springs-closes-i-70

 

[Muleski]

Wow. That is going to be a real pain in the neck; routing up through Hayden and Steamboat is quite a detour. Glad that nobody was injured.

 

[SpikeDog]

It's going to be a PITA for me this weekend. Heading to Aspen for Sat-Sun, have to drive to Edwards/Vail Sunday night.

 

[tball]

It's going to be a PITA for me this weekend. Heading to Aspen for Sat-Sun, have to drive to Edwards/Vail Sunday night.

Google is suggesting the route south out of Eagle to Basalt. Seems like it should be a lot shorter. I've never driven to Aspen that way but know folks who have, later in the spring though.



Maybe someone else can advise if that's a good idea.

 

[babanff]

Google is suggesting the route south out of Eagle to Basalt. Seems like it should be a lot shorter. I've never driven to Aspen that way but know folks who have, later in the spring though.

View attachment 4118

Maybe someone else can advise if that's a good idea.

That route (Frying Pan Rd) is not maintained in winter, so no, not passable yet.

 

[SpikeDog]

I'm coming in through Craig, Meeker, and Rifle from Wyoming, so the west side is open to Aspen. I just hope the Colorado DOT is accurate when they say they can get a lane open by Thursday. Sounds like I'll be following a pilot car past the slide, so I'm sure that'll be a long delay. I'm skiing the Vail area resorts next week, and wanted to burn my Mtn Collective freebies at Aspen first.

 

[Jeff N]

I-70 gets closed/damaged from a rockslide in this same exact spot almost every year when thaw/freeze cycles start. There is a sheer cliff of sandstone on top of granite several hundred feet high adjacent to the road and the particular spot just West of the Hanging lake tunnel is particularly unstable. Very large boulders usually fall a few hundred feet and hit hard enough to punch through the road deck.

This is one of the few points in the canyon where both directions of traffic are at the same level (Westbound is elevated well above Eastbound through almost all of the canyon) so one rockfall here can damage both directions- and if they need to do scaling work, they need to close both in case they bring something additional down.

So.. Yeah. The good news is that they have to fix this so damned often that they are usually spot on with how long it will take.

 

[x10003q]

My brother and his family were supposed to drive from Aspen to Denver to fly out yesterday. He ended up booking flights out of Aspen.

 

[Michael R.]

I'm assuming this is why glenwood canyon seems to have some section of it under construction every summer??

 

[SBrown]

I'm coming in through Craig, Meeker, and Rifle from Wyoming, so the west side is open to Aspen. I just hope the Colorado DOT is accurate when they say they can get a lane open by Thursday. Sounds like I'll be following a pilot car past the slide, so I'm sure that'll be a long delay. I'm skiing the Vail area resorts next week, and wanted to burn my Mtn Collective freebies at Aspen first.

They just said today that it would be through the weekend.

 

[Jeff N]

I'm assuming this is why glenwood canyon seems to have some section of it under construction every summer??

I think it is just a highly engineered piece of roadway that as a result needs a lot of TLC. One direction is more or less an 18 mile long bridge, the other direction plopped into and in some places cantilevered over a rowdy river with lots and lots of erosive force.

But this is why the road surface just West of the HL tunnel goes 3rd world for about a football field pretty much a week after they get done resurfacing it.