Grand Junction – The rock slide that killed a 53-year-old Grand Junction woman Saturday on Interstate 70 happened just east of another slide that tumbled onto the highway Aug. 21.
The Colorado Department of Transportation brought in rockfall experts then who deemed the area stable and safe but in need of mitigation. The department was in the process of contracting with a company to blast away more rock in early October, said CDOT spokeswoman Nancy Shanks.
“This area is one of the areas in the state that is prone to slides,” Shanks said.
Patricia Ann Bradshaw was 33 miles into her 250-mile drive with a load of produce. She had just passed another semi and pulled back into the right lane late Saturday when a rock face loosened by two days of rain let go. Rocks bigger than her 2007 red Peterbilt truck mashed the cab, killing Bradshaw instantly.
The slide and accident closed the westbound interstate for nearly 24 hours. The eastbound lanes likely will be closed through this week, Shanks said, while blasting is done.
While traffic is being juggled, the Bradshaw family is planning a Friday afternoon memorial service for a woman they described as very strong.
“‘Anything boys can do, girls can do better.’ She would say that, and she proved it time and again,” said daughter Katrina Holland.
Bradshaw had close calls in 15 years of driving semis. But she had always come home to tell her sister, Diane Bashem, all about her narrow escapes.
“‘Oh, Diane,’ she would say. ‘It was so close. Whooooeee, it was very close,”‘ Bashem recalled.
Bradshaw had overcome Hodgkin’s disease five years ago, losing her own trucking company during her sickness and recuperation. She had been making three trips a week to Denver and back for Mile Hi Frozen Foods for the past year.
If she had been driving her own truck, her family said, she might have had her dogs Bozo and Buster with her or granddaughter Sasha. Bradshaw wasn’t allowed to take passengers or pets while driving for Mile Hi.
Bradshaw had been talking by cellphone to her sister about 10 minutes before the accident. They made plans to meet Sunday at her Paradise Valley trailer at her normal return time of about 10 a.m.
Her sister was waiting there Sunday when she learned what had happened.
Family members say their only consolation is that Bradshaw died doing what she loved.
“There was only one thing she loved better than trucking,” her daughter said. “And that was us.”
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com.
