Falling boulders force 220-mile highway detour

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. – Dozens of boulders, some the size of buses, crashed onto a highway Thursday, forcing travelers on a 220-mile detour through the mountains.

No one was injured in the rock slide because the highway had been closed earlier in the morning when a truck overturned. Crews were getting ready to reopen the road when the rocks began falling about a mile away.

Officials said the highway sustained an “enormous amount” of damage, and that some of the 40 boulders were embedded six feet deep in the pavement. The rock slide caused officials to close a 24-mile section of Interstate 70, the main east-west highway through Colorado.

“It’s going to delay dinner this afternoon,” said state Department of Transportation spokesman Joe Tucker.

Crews hoped to open one lane in both directions Thursday night, but said it likely will be days before all lanes are clear. The road was closed between Glenwood Springs and Gypsum.

Geologists were investigating what caused the rocks to fall.

Some travelers en route to Thanksgiving dinner found refuge in nearby communities. Truck driver Ken Sharp had planned to eat at a truck stop on his way to California, but joined the Rotary Club dinner in Silverthorne instead.

“I hardly ever make it home. Probably only once every two months,” Sharp said. “This is my first Thanksgiving as a truck driver. The food was really wonderful and the people are so nice and courteous.”