CO 119 Boulder Canyon open

BOULDER COUNTY – Following a full day of clearing rock from Tuesday’s rock slide on CO 119 in Boulder Canyon, the Colorado Department of Transportation was able to reopen the road around 6:45 p.m. 

The road is still rough in some areas so drivers are advised to drive slowly. CDOT will come back and do a permanent pave repair in the near future. 

Crews estimate that 300-500 cubic yards of rock were removed and trucked away from the roadway. A cubic yard is roughly the size and weight of a residential dishwasher. 

“This has been a full team effort, from our Maintenance crews who worked the closure in the rain and snow, to the engineers and our contractor partners who were able to move quickly to clear and repair the road,” said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew. “We also want to thank the residents and drivers in the canyon for their patience.”

While this rock fall did not happen in the area where CDOT is working on the permanent repair from the 2013 flood, the contractor for that project, Zak Dirt, did have equipment and resources on hand to deal with the rocks, so they handled much of the major cleanup work. 

CDOT geologic teams have assessed the area to ensure that it is safe from any other eminent rock fall. 

The slide happened during heavy rain and snow in the area referred to as the Narrows. No people were injured, and no vehicles were reportedly damaged. 

About CDOT

CDOT’s Whole System-Whole Safety program has one simple mission — to get everyone home safely. Our approximately 3,000 employees work tirelessly to reduce the rate and severity of crashes and improve the safety of all modes of transportation. The department manages more than 23,000 lane miles of highway, more than 3,000 bridges and 35 mountain passes. CDOT also manages grant partnerships with a range of agencies, including metropolitan planning organizations, local governments and airports. It also operates Bustang, the state-owned interregional express bus service. Gov. Jared Polis has charged CDOT to further build on the state’s intermodal mobility options.