Morrison — A worker for a state highway subcontractor was killed on Interstate 70 at about 3:30 p.m. today when he apparently fell off of a truck while picking up traffic cones and the truck ran over him twice.
The accident occurred about a quarter-mile west of the exit 259 Morrison exit in the far-left westbound lane. A 6 1/2-mile stretch of I-70 from West Colfax Avenue to Lookout Mountain road is being resurfaced.
Two of three westbound lanes of I-70 were closed while the white-sheeted body was removed and the incident was investigated.
The far-right westbound lane remained open, though traffic at 5 p.m. was backed up about 2 miles to the C-470 bridge.
Many drivers were opting to use U.S. 40 — which parallels that portion of I-70 — to get around the accident scene.
The lanes were reopened at 5:45 p.m.
Colorado Highway Patrol’s accident-reconstruction team responded to the scene.
Trooper Gilbert Mares said the accident happened when a white Chevy pickup owned by American Barricade Rental was backing up.
Mares said the truck was going “very slow — obviously not highway speed.” The driver was wearing a seat belt.
The victim, a 43-year-old Denver man who was not identified, was sitting or standing in the back of the truck fell as he picked up cones, Mares said.
The truck driver, David A. Bostrom, 27 of Centennial, “felt some type of a bump,” Mares said, and pulled forward, running over the man again.
The victim also was employed by American Barricade. A woman answering the phone at the company’s Denver office said any comment would have to come from the firm’s safety officer, who was at the scene.
