GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo.-
A nearly mile-long tunnel on heavily traveled Interstate 70 in Western Colorado will be shut down indefinitely because of a growing crack in the ceiling, officials said Friday.
The eastbound bore of the 4,000-foot-long Hanging Lake Tunnel was expected to close later Friday. The westbound bore will be used to handle traffic in both directions, Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.
Each bore has two lanes. On average, the two bores carry a combined 16,500 vehicles a day, she said.
CDOT does not know how much the repairs will cost or how long they will take, but “we expect it to be a lengthy closure,” Stegman said.
CDOT has been monitoring the crack for about a year, and by Friday it had grown to 70 feet long and 2 inches wide, Stegman said.
In a written statement, CDOT said it does not believe the structure will fail, but the agency said it is “no longer comfortable allowing motorists to travel through the (eastbound) tunnel.”
The Hanging Lake Tunnel, completed in 1992, is eight miles east of Glenwood Springs and 110 miles west of Denver.
