In the wake of the boulder- bashing of U.S. 6 in Clear Creek Canyon, Jefferson County on Wednesday closed part of the creek to recreation while state transportation officials worked on cleaning up the enormous rock slide.
The highway still could remain closed for up to a month, as officials work to remove more than 1,200 tons of rock that fell on the road, as well as to stabilize the nearly 100- foot-high cliff from which the rocks tumbled. Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said it could cost as much as $1.5 million to clear the slide.
CDOT crews cleared a small path on the side of the roadway Wednesday so that equipment could move from one side of the rockfall to the other. But Stegman said the next priority will be to make sure no more rocks come tumbling down.
“Our biggest concern really is making sure the slope of the mountain is stable, because we still believe it could be pretty risky for working in that area,” Stegman said. “That’s why we’re not going ahead and just clearing all the rock.”
Jefferson County officials shut down recreation on Clear Creek between Colorado Highways 119 and 58 out of fears of more falling rock.
The slide happened Tuesday morning about a mile east of U.S. 6’s junction with Colorado 119. The technical term for the slide, which injured a truck driver and scared two other drivers, is a “massive slope failure.”
The rock slide could prove a boon for tiny Central City.
Central City long has been the little brother to bigger Black Hawk in the competition to lure gamblers to Gilpin County. In the standard route to get to the gambling towns – U.S. 6 to Colorado 119 north – Black Hawk comes first.
But in November, officials opened the Central City Parkway, a four-lane road off Interstate 70 that city leaders hope will direct more people straight into the town. The road already has seen more than 500,000 cars, said Joe Behm, president of the Central City Business Improvement District. And now, because of Mother Nature’s temper tantrum on U.S. 6, the road is well positioned to scoop up additional gambling traffic.
The detour route to Black Hawk is about a mile longer than getting to Central City using the new parkway.
“It’s really not going to hurt at all,” Central City Mayor Buddy Schmalz said of the rock slide.
However, Seth Ford, Black Hawk’s spokesman, said officials in his city aren’t worried about the rock slide or the new parkway. “That’s actually something that we think is great,” Ford said. “The more people that come to the area in general, the more people who come to our city as well.”
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
