Day-Long Closure of I-70 at Georgetown Tomorrow

April 4, 2011 - TRAFFIC ADVISORY - Central Eastern Colorado/CDOT Region 1 - CLEAR CREEK COUNTY – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will close Interstate 70 at Georgetown Hill tomorrow for large-scale rock removal operations.

Beginning at 9 a.m. 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 and between Silverthorne and Silver Plume still will be allowed to travel I-70 up to the closure points.  Due the number of boulders that need to be removed, the highway is expected to remain closed until 5 p.m.

CDOT needs to close the highway for the day to maintain public safety since the boulders have a high potential of coming loose and down to I-70.  Engineers will not know how long it will take to remove all the boulders until the depth of the cluster can be fully examined.

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.

While I-70 is closed, the primary detour routes between the Front Range and the Western Slope are:

  • I-70 to U.S. 40 (Empire Junction), U.S. 40 west over Berthoud Pass to Kremmling, and State Highway 9 south to I-70 in Silverthorne (110 miles)
  • U.S. 285 southwest to Fairplay, State Highway 9 north over Hoosier Pass to I-70 in Frisco (101 miles)

CDOT understands the closure will inconvenience the traveling public.  However, the work needs to be accomplished promptly in a controlled environment, without traffic moving below.

For text and/or e-mail alerts about the project, and while work is underway, please visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the cell-phone icon in the upper right-hand corner.  A link takes you to a list of items you can subscribe to, including I-70 West, Denver to Glenwood Springs. Updates also will be available by calling 511 or checking the Web site: www.coloradodot.info